The Warmth of a Sister's Love
by Awesome Rapidash
Summary: After some consideration, Katiya agrees to help her sister to reunite with her human friend. Chapter 9 is now up. Please read and review.
1. A Plea for Help

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, I don't own Mermaid Melody. _

_**The Warmth of a Sister's Love**_

_**Chapter 1: A Plea for Help**_

Dim moonlight filtered through the crystal clear water as a lone mermaid swam silently along the sandy bottom of the ocean floor. As she moved along the sea floor, her long raven colored hair trailing behind her. Looking around, the white tailed mermaid smiled at all the colorful tropical fish that were swimming near her. The warm water and colorful fish were much different than what was found near her own kingdom.

She continued to swim for a little while longer before coming to a stop at the edge of a pink colored coral reef. Her crimson eyes scanned the shallow ocean intently, carefully examining the watery world before her, almost as though she was looking for something or perhaps… someone.

After a small pause, she pushed herself away from the reef and gave her porcelain white tail fin a powerful kick, sending up a cloud of sand as she headed towards the shallow water in front of her. As the depth around her decreased she slowed her progress, swimming carefully around the colorful yet dangerous coral formations. Once the water had become shallow enough for her, she stopped and slowly lifted her head above the surface. She looked around at the moonlit surroundings, all the while being mindful to remained deep enough for her to keep her body and tail concealed below the surface of the water.

Once she was certain that no one was around, the mermaid cautiously approached the bright moonlit beach. Once she was satisfied that the shoreline was indeed deserted, she continued forward until she felt the cool sand of the beach beneath her. Now that she was out of the warm water she felt herself shiver slightly in the cool night air. She quickly removed a dark green colored bag from her back and opened it. Reaching inside she removed a towel and used it to dry off. Now dry, she immediately transformed from her mermaid form into that of a teenaged human girl. She brushed the sand off herself and once again opened the bag. She removed her clothes and without hesitation, dressed herself.

After another quick check of her surroundings; she returned the towel to the bag and closed it. She then hoisted it onto her back and headed up the beach towards a well-lit small hotel not too far away from her. If what she had been told, it was there that she would find who she had come so far to find.

**XXX**

The lobby of the petite hotel Pearl Piari was deserted and dimly lit. Lucia sat behind the reception desk and listened as the sound of the clock tick its way towards closing. She sighed softly as she idly thumbed through the recent copy of a surfing magazine that Kaito had left in her room. She loathed watching the reception desk at night. It was so boring and it seemed that no one ever came in at night. She sighed again, wondering why Nicola kept the small hotel open so late. She turned the page of the magazine and smiled slightly_, "I guess it could be worse…"_ she mused to herself.

She remembered back to earlier in the day when Nicola had brought out the chore wheel. The choices were simple; she could either end up minding the desk, washing dishes, or waiting on the guests during the dinner service. She'd been lucky and when the magenta haired mermaid spun the wheel, she'd ended up with desk duty. She giggled to herself as she thought back to the look on Hanon's face when she'd ended up with the task of washing dishes! _"That look was priceless!"_ She giggled to herself_. "I wish I'd had my camera to capture the moment."_

The pink pearl Princess had just returned her attention to the article she'd been reading when the sound of the hotel's front door opening grabbed her attention. Curiously she looked up to see who had entered at this late hour. To her surprise, it was a girl similar in age to her. As the girl approached the desk and better light, Lucia noticed that she had shoulder length light brown hair and wore a pink tee shirt with a red heart in the upper left hand side. Light colored blue jeans and red gym shoes finished her ensemble.

Lucia gave the girl a smile. "Good evening and welcome to the Pearl Piari!" she greeted happily. "How may I help you?"

The girl stepped up to the desk and returned Lucia's smile. "Hello, I would like to rent a room," she answered plainly.

"Oh, alright I can get that for you right away," the blond haired girl answered. "Um, may I ask how long will you be staying with us?"

The girl shrugged her slender shoulders. "To be honest, I'm not sure right now," she replied. "It all depends on how things work out."

Lucia nodded and reached under the counter to get the room key. She placed the key on the counter along with a pen and a green hard covered book. "If you would, please sign the guest register."

The brown haired girl nodded and picked up the pen. As she leaned forward to sign the book, her seashell locket fell out of her shirt and swung back and forth in front of her. The girl gasped and dropped the pen and tried to grasp the swinging pendant.

Lucia's eyes widened when she saw the decorated seashell and a small audible gasp escaped her lips. "Hey, is that what I think it is?" she questioned curiously.

The brown haired girl looked up and met Lucia's eyes. "That depends on what you think it is," she answered.

A slightly confused look filled the pink pearl Princess' face. "Um, it looked like a seashell locket to me. And given the decorations on the side of it, it must belong to a Princess. There is a pearl tear inside, is there not?" she asked sheepishly.

The girl slowly nodded. "So Natasha was right about this location… it seems that I am in the right place," she remarked, noting Lucia's own seashell locket. "I'd say that from the color of your locket, you must be from the kingdom of the North Pacific. In fact, from the adornments on your locket, I'd say that you are Princess Lucia."

A look of surprise replaced the look of confusion. "Th… that's right. But how… how do you know that and how do you know who I am?"

The brown haired girl leaned forward and spoke softly. "Because Princess, I too am a mermaid, my name is Katiya and I hail from the Kingdom of the Bering Sea. As well, I am the keeper of the White pearl." she answered. "Though our Kingdom is much smaller than yours, right now, we have a big problem that exceeds our capabilities, so I was sent here to seek assistance."

Now quite curious, Lucia stepped around from behind the counter and walked over to where Katiya stood. "I see. Does this problem have something to do with sea demons?" the girl asked.

"No, not sea demons, if it were something that simple, we could have easily handled it," the brunette answered. "This is something far more formidable than any demon!"

Lucia gave Katiya a confused look. "I don't understand, what could possibly be worse than sea demons?"

"Humans. The problem my kingdom is facing involves humans," she replied callously. "They have captured a mermaid from our kingdom and are currently holding her against he will," she explained. "Because of their recklessness, she became trapped in one of their fishing nets and before she could be freed, she was hauled to the surface. For all we know, she might already be dead."

"I see, but why come here then?" Lucia questioned. "I mean, wouldn't it be better if you tried to rescue her?"

"If it was only that easy… and that's why I've come here, to ask for you and your friends for assistance," Katiya replied. "You see, our kingdom is small but we are a close nit nation. We have spent much time in the human world, but all of that has been undetected by them. Now that they are aware of our presence, our Queen is concerned that more will fall prey to the humans if a rescue was attempted."

"I see. But how did you know to come here?"

"Fortunately one of our emissaries was visiting the neighboring Kingdom of the Arctic Ocean when this took place. She asked Princess Noel for advice and she suggested that we seek your assistance in mounting a rescue attempt. It is our wish to return Kyla, that's the girl's name, safely to her home."

"Oh I see, well I guess it makes sense that Noel would suggest that," Lucia replied. "Problem is right now I'm the only one here. Well except for my big sister Nicola, she's here too, but she's not who you want to meet. That would be Hanon and Rina, who at the moment, are currently out with their boyfriends and won't be back until later tonight."

Katiya sighed. "I see, I was hoping to get going as soon as possible. However, from the sounds of things, I think it would be best for me to go to my room. It's been a difficult swim and I could use some rest."

Lucia nodded and gave Katiya a smile. "Of course, I can certainly understand that! Please follow me and I'll show you up to your room."

"Is it alright for you to leave the desk?" Katiya asked, pointing to the now empty reception desk behind the pink pearl Princess. "What if someone walks in and wants a room while you are away?"

"I doubt that anyone will show. It's so boring here at night. And in the event that someone does come in, Nicola can take care of them."

"I see, if you say it's alright Princess Lucia, please lead me to my room," Katiya replied.

"Please just call me Lucia. There is no need to be so stuffy," Lucia giggled.

"If you say so Lucia-chan," Katiya said with a small smile.

Lucia led the girl up to the second floor of the hotel and down the hallway. She finally stopped in front of a dark colored wooden door and turned to her companion. "Here's your room. You can get some rest and tomorrow morning, you can explain everything" Lucia explained as she unlocked the door and opened it. "Oh, before I go, would you like something to eat? I'm sure I can ask Nicola to prepare you something."

Katiya smiled. "Some dinner would be nice. The last good meal I had was right before I left."

Lucia returned the girl's smile. "Alright, you go ahead and get settled and I'll bring something up in a little bit."

Katiya smiled and thanking the pink pearl Princess. She then pushed the door open and stepped into the small but comfortable room. She made her way over to the bed and sat down on the blue and white comforter. As she did so, she could feel the last of her body's energy quickly beginning to fade.

A few minutes later the sounds of someone knocking on the door broke the silence. Katiya groaned and pushed her weary body up and walked to the door. She opened it and was greeted by Lucia who was holding a light blue colored tray.

"This isn't much, but this should get you through until morning," she chirped as she handed the platter to the girl in front of her.

"Thank you Lucia-chan, I'm sure this will be fine."

"Good night Katiya-chan, sleep well!" Lucia said as she stepped back and closed the door to the room.

Katiya took the tray and walked over to the small table next to the lamp. The tantalizing smell of the food caused her stomach to rumble. She took a seat and quickly devoured everything on the plate. Her belly now somewhat full, she laid herself down and pulled the comforter up around her enjoying the warm softness that surrounded her.

She hoped that in the morning, she would be able to convince the three mermaid princesses to accompany her back to her kingdom in distant the Bering Sea. There they could formulate a plan to rescue her sister Kyla.

Katiya closed her eyes and as she felt herself slipping into slumber, she hoped that her sister was okay. She could only pray that she was alright.


	2. A Sister's Promise

_Special thanks to __**Laney-chan**__, __**AkiraWhiteMermaid, **__and __**xXSakuraBlossomsXx **__for your reviews of the last chapter. I also want to take a moment to thank all who have read and faved my story so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! _

_**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own anything in the Mermaid Melody series. _

_**Chapter 2: A Sister's Promise **_

Silent darkness filled the halls and open spaces of the petite hotel Pearl Piari. The hotel, along with its guests and staff, were fast asleep. That is, all but one new arrival who tossed and turned about in her bed.

_Two mermaids, one appearing younger than the other and both with pristine white tails swam along not really in any sort of a hurry to get to wherever it was that they were headed. Their day had started out as a seemingly routine swim over to a nearby reef to bring back some colorful rocks that they could use as decorations. There was nothing difficult or dangerous about that, right?_

_The younger mermaid smiled and hummed to herself as she swam along. She paused and looked at the older girl swimming next to her. "It's such a wonderful day!"_

_The elder mermaid smiled back at her sister. "You know Kyla; I heard that I will be making a visit to the Kingdom of the Arctic Ocean in a few days. Would you like to go with me?"_

_The younger girl beamed. "Do you really mean that Kat? Sure, I would love to go with you! I haven't gotten to go anywhere in such a long time! And I heard that Princess Noel is really nice too!"_

_Katiya nodded. "I've been to her kingdom twice before and I can tell you that it is as nice as anything you've heard. Princess Noel is very nice as well."_

_Kyla returned her sister's nod. "Yeah, I remember you telling me all about it the last time you were there. I was so disappointed that I wasn't allowed to go too."_

_"Well at that time you were a little too young for such a trip. But I have a feeling that this time mom will let you go with me."_

_An excited look filled the younger mermaid's face. "Really, do you think she will?" she asked with a hopeful expression on her face._

_Katiya nodded. "Yes, but if you do go, you will have to be on your best behavior when we're there. After all, you will be a representative of our nation. So no goofing around! Oh and you might want to get your hair styled as well, sis."_

_Kyla scowled back at her sister. "Why do I need to get my hair styled? I happen to like my hair just the way it is." She pouted, taking some of her long raven black hair into her hand._

_"I just don't want you looking exactly like me when we go," Katiya replied before playfully giving her sister a push._

_Kyla laughed and pushed the other mermaid right back. She then gave her white tail fin a swift kick and began to swim away from her sister. "Can't catch me Kat!"_

_"Oh you're on little sister!" Katiya shouted, giving her tail fin a powerful kick._

_The two mermaids swam faster and faster across the ocean floor and for the moment, Kyla was able to hold a little bit of a lead on her older sister and looked back at her, sticking out her tongue out in a taunt. At first, the elder mermaid couldn't help a laugh, because it was all in fun. But that was when something ominous caught her eye, which caused her to stop in fear._

_"Kyla, look out!" she shouted desperately. She watched in horror as her younger sister swam straight into a large fishing net._

_Terror filled the younger mermaid as she realized what had happened to her. Her fear caused her to thrash about in a vain attempt to free herself. Instead, she only became further entangled in the netting._

_Katiya swam carefully over to her sister and grabbed her sister's arm. "Kyla, you have to calm down! You're only making it worse if you thrash around like that!"_

_A look of fear filled the younger girl's face. "Kat, help me! I'm stuck!"_

_The elder mermaid didn't like to see her sister trapped like this. She looked at the net that had been entangled around the younger mermaid's body. However, no matter what she did, nothing seemed to work!_

_"This isn't good," Katiya said in a worried voice as she struggled to free her trapped sibling. "It's wrapped tightly around your tail…"_

_"Hurry sis… it's hurting my tail!"_

_"I… I'm trying, but this net is strong," Katiya replied trying to hide the desperation in her tone._

_A few minutes later the younger girl's worst fears were realized as the net began to be pulled towards the surface._ _Noticing the look on her sister's face, the elder mermaid shouted to her, "Kyla, try and get free of the net!"_

_"I… I can't get myself out," the terrified girl replied. "Help me Kat… please!"_

_The elder girl pulled and struggled to free her sister as the net rapidly approached the surface. "Kyla, no…" She grabbed her sister's arms and tried one last desperate attempt to free her. "Now kick! Kick as hard as you can!"_

_Kyla did as her sister told her and gave all she can muster in one last flurry of kicks. "It's not working… Kat… I'm scared!"_

_As the net was about to break the surface Katiya swam up and looked at her frightened sibling directly in her eyes, and with tears filling her own crimson eyes she spoke. "Kyla listen, stay calm… I'll come for you…"_

_"Katiya…!"_

_As the net was pulled from the sea, the two sisters were separated and the young white mermaid along with the nets load of fish were hauled on board the fishing boat. Katiya surfaced a safe distance away and watched helplessly as the boat began to sail away. She followed the boat until it pulled into the dock. More tears filled her red orbs as she descended back below the water's surface and back to the castle, to tell her mom what had happened. _

_She swam slowly, mostly out of sadness. What was she going to actually say to her mother? As she is the elder sister, she is responsible for Kyla. At first, she was afraid what would happen when she explained that her sister had just been taken away by humans._

_But thinking about Kyla suddenly made Katiya swim faster, kicking her tail. She knew that her younger sister had to be so scared. Anyone would probably be afraid. But she would not hold back. She would do what she had to do in order to free her sister, and bring her back to where she belonged! And with that resolve, she continued forward._

**XXX**

The sound of rain pelting the window of her room greeted Katiya as she awoke from the dream. She pushed herself up and shook her head, looked around the dimly lit room and waiting for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the room's sparse illumination. She rubbed her eyes and tried to wipe the terrible images out of her mind. _"Kyla, please be alright," _she murmured sadly.

With a soft sigh she pushed the comforter from herself, shivering slightly as the cool morning air caressed her skin. After a moment to stretch the white pearl Princess swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She stepped over to the mirror hanging on the wall above the lightly colored wooden dresser and glared at the refection. She grumbled a little at the image staring back at her. How she detested her human form.

After a moment, she turned and walked into the bathroom and over to the large light blue porcelain bathtub. She reached out and turned the cold water on and watched as it filled the light blue porcelain tub. Once she was satisfied that it was ready, she removed her clothes and stepped carefully into the icy cold water. A sigh escaped her lips as she reverted back to her mermaid form. Katiya went about the routine of washing herself almost robotically. After rinsing out her raven colored hair, she climbed out of the tub and using one of the soft white towels that hung near the tub, she dried herself off, reverting once again into her human form.

After dressing herself, she ran a brush through her now shoulder length light brown hair. Once she was satisfied, she opened the door of her room and headed downstairs.

As she neared the bottom of the staircase, she heard the sounds of voices talking, or rather arguing loudly. Curious, the white pearl Princess headed the rest of the way down the stairs and towards the sounds of the voices.

**XXX**

"Geez Lucia you are such an airhead!" Hanon argued defensively. "All that ever comes out of your mouth is Kaito this and Kaito that! It's so annoying!"

"You're just jealous Hanon," the pink pearl Princess huffed back. "I can't help it if Nagisa-kun doesn't want to go to the fair with you."

"Geez, can't you two give it a rest?" Rina asked in an annoyed voice. "It's the same thing every morning with you two."

"Well it's not my fault, Hanon started it," Lucia said and pouted.

"That's enough…" Nicola started but abruptly stopped when she saw Katiya standing in the doorway. "Oh, you must be the girl who arrived last night. Lucia-chan told me that you were here."

Katiya nodded. "Yes, that would be me," she answered, slowly walking into the dining room. "I'll get right to the point, my name is Katiya, and I'm from the Kingdom of the Bering Sea. I am the holder of the white pearl. Did Lucia-chan tell you the reason that I've come here?"

"She didn't say much, just said that you need our help with something is all."

"I see," the brunette said as she walked over to the table and took a seat. "I have been sent here from my kingdom to ask your help in rescuing a member of my kingdom. She is being held against her will by…"

"She's being held by sea demons, right?" Hanon interrupted. "They are always causing troubles for us!"

The white pearl Princess shook her head. "No, it's not sea demons. It's something much more disgusting."

The aquamarine Princess looked curious. "What could be worse than sea demons?"

"Humans, that's what," Katiya spat out venomously.

A confused look filled the other mermaids' faces at their guest's reaction to humans.

"Um, I take it you don't like humans Katiya?" Rina questioned carefully.

"No I don't," Katiya answered plainly. "How can I possibly like such vile and disgusting creatures? I mean they defile our kingdom by dumping their waste into the sea. They over fish the waters until there is nothing left! And all for what, their own personal betterment that's what! No, humans are evil creatures and that's all there is to it."

The white pearl Princess' answer didn't seem to clear up the other mermaids questions about her fondness, or lack thereof, for humans and they each gave her a quizzical look.

"I don't understand what do you need us for?" Hanon asked curiously. "If someone from your kingdom needs to be rescued, why don't you just go and rescue her?"

Katiya sighed, she knew it might be hard to convince them, but she had to try anyway. "You see, we are a small kingdom and we lack the resources to mount a proper rescue. Add to that our contact with the human world has been very limited and covert. Queen Sasha feared that if we tried to move about in the human world now that they are aware of our presence. that we would be easily identified and captured as well."

"Alright that explains that, but why come to us?" Rina questioned.

"It's simple, you and the other mermaid Princesses have spent a great deal of time in the human world so you know how to better blend in and not draw attention to yourselves," the brown haired girl answered. "It was hoped that you could accompany me back to my kingdom and together, we could mount a rescue. You see… Kyla the mermaid who is being held captive, is my younger sister," she added before falling silent.

The three mermaids looked at each other for a moment and finally over to Nicola. The magenta haired mermaid nodded in approval.

"I think we should go and help rescue her," Hanon said. "After all, as Katiya pointed out, we do know how to move about undetected in the human world."

"I think so as well," Lucia added in agreement. "After all, she just might help us out someday!"

"Then it's agreed, we can leave tonight for my kingdom," Katiya remarked with a small smile.

"Wait a minute, don't I get a say in this?" Rina asked sounding slightly annoyed.

Hanon and Lucia gave the green pearl Princess a look. "What's the matter Rina, don't you want to help her?" Hanon asked curiously.

Rina shook her head. "That's not what I mean," she replied defensively. "It's just that you and Lucia made the decision without my input or any real thought."

Katiya looked at the green haired girl standing not far away from her. "Please Rina-chan, Kyla is my sister… and to be honest, I feel somewhat responsible for her being caught in the net," she said softly. "Please help me to get her back safely."

Rina sighed. "Alright, alright I'll help."

"That's the spirit Rina!" Lucia cheered happily. She then looked over at Hanon and gave the aquamarine Princess a look. "Um, Hanon my dear, will you be able to survive during that time without Nagisa-kun?" She added with a tinge of sarcasm.

"Oh don't worry about me Lucia! I'll do way better than you'll do without your precious Kaito-kun!" Hanon argued back.

Rina simply shook her head as the two mermaids bantered back and forth.

"Um, I take it they are always acting like this?" Katiya asked curiously.

Rina nodded. "Yeah, you'll get used to it."

Later that evening the four mermaids met on the moonlit beach near the Pearl Piari. After making sure that no one was around all four quickly headed into the rolling sea. After transforming into their mermaid forms, they follow Katiya as she led them out into the darkness of the open ocean.


	3. Kingdom of the White Mermaids

_Thank you's go out this time to __**xXSakuraBlossomsXx**__ and __**AkiraWhiteMermaid**__ for their reviews of the previous chapter. Thanks guys! _

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, it's still not mine. If it were, the anime would be in English! _

_**Chapter 3: Kingdom of the White Mermaids**_

"Ugh, are we there yet?" Lucia complained as they swam along the rocky ocean floor. "My tail is killing me and I need a rest."

"Really… you are kidding right?" Katiya grumbled, sounding quite annoyed. "We've only been swimming for a few hours. All that easy living up there on land has really softened you up."

The pink pearl Princess shot the crimson eyed girl swimming next to her an evil look. "Well I'm sorry Katiya-chan, but I didn't expect to swim all the way to your kingdom in just one night!"

"I don't think it's much further Lucia, but if you need a rest perhaps we should stop and take one," Hanon offered. "What do you say Katiya-chan, do you mind if we stop and take a small break?"

The white pearl Princess slowed and finally came to a stop and looked back at the three mermaids trailing behind her. "If it will end her constant complaining then yes, we can stop for a short break," she replied curtly.

"Thanks Katiya-chan, I really need this!" Lucia said as she swam over to a nearby rock and took a seat, stretching out her pink tail. "Ah… that's much better."

Katiya swam a short distance away and settled down on the soft sandy ocean floor next to an outcropping of purple and green seaweed. Rina swam over and joined her a moment later. "I know you're worried about your sister Katiya, but getting mad at them won't help get her back any quicker."

Katiya brushed some of her raven black hair out of her face and looked up at the green pearl Princess. "I know Rina-chan, but… I'm worried about what they might be doing to Kyla," she said with a sigh.

Rina nodded. "I can understand what you are going through. I felt the same way when…"

The white pearl Princess looked at her curiously. "Oh, did something like this happen to you?"

Rina nodded and moved closer to Katiya before taking a seat on a small rock. "It was back during the time when our kingdoms were coming under attack by the Panthalassa clan. Princess Noel had sought refuge in my kingdom after hers was destroyed," she explained. "But it was only a matter of time before my kingdom came under attack as well.

"When it was apparent that my kingdom was about to fall, Noel and I fled. However Gaito, the leader of the Panthalassa clan along with one of his minions quickly caught up to us."

Katiya watched as Rina's expression twisted in pain as she continued.

"We were attacked and… Noel pushed me out of the way," she explained. "She was captured and I was able to escape. She sacrificed herself so that I could escape."

Katiya nodded. "I see, so you do know how it feels to have to leave someone behind then."

Rina nodded back. "Yeah, I do. Noel had to remain a prisoner in Gaito's castle for a long time and the fact that I had escaped really ate at me."

"I know the feeling," the white mermaid replied. "I felt so helpless when Kyla was hauled out of the water in that net."

Rina looked over at Hanon and Lucia who were chatting idly a short distance away. "Don't worry Katiya, together we will get your sister back. You just need to be a little more patient with Lucia. She has a big heart and means well, but sometimes she can be a little ditzy."

"I'll try," Katiya sighed, looking over at the pink pearl Princess. "I'm just a little freaked out by all this."

Rina nodded and gave her a compassionate smile. "I know you are."

A short while later Lucia and Hanon swam over to where Katiya and Rina were waiting and settled down next to the two mermaids. "I feel all nice and refreshed now, I think we can continue on," Lucia chirped happily. "Thank you for letting me rest Katiya-chan, I really needed that."

The raven haired girl smiled slightly. "Sure, it was no problem. We should be arriving in my kingdom in a few more hours," she added before giving her white tail fin a strong kick and swimming off.

"She's not very friendly," Lucia grumbled as she watched Katiya disappear in the murky darkness.

"Yeah, she didn't even wait for us before swimming off!" Hanon added.

"Relax you two, she's just worried about her little sister," Rina replied. She felt she had every right to defend her, since she knew what the white mermaid was going through. She gave her emerald green tail fin a kick to follow after her. "Come on you two let's get going!"

Hanon and Lucia quickly exchanged glances and joined the North Atlantic Princess as she swam to catch up with the Bering Sea Princess.

**XXX**

In Lucia's mind it seemed to take much longer to reach the Bering Sea kingdom. She was swimming to the right of Katiya and to the left of her was Hanon when they crossed a large ridge and came into a wide flat valley. There before them glimmered Katiya's kingdom.

The three mermaid Princesses followed the raven haired girl as she lead them towards a white colored castle.

"Is that you castle?" Hanon asked curiously as they approached the stone structure.

Katiya nodded. "The castle belongs to all the inhabitants of our kingdom."

"Your castle is quite pretty," Lucia said as they neared the wide ornamented entrance. "My castle is all pink you know!"

The brunette sighed. "You don't say," she replied, trying to mask the apparent tone of sarcasm in her voice.

Lucia scowled. "I was just saying is all, geez…"

"Take is easy you two," Hanon said cautiously. "We don't need to fight here, we need to work together."

"Hanon's right," Rina added. She looked at Lucia. "Let's just focus on why we're here."

As they approached the main entrance Katiya stopped momentarily.

"Is something wrong Katiya-chan?" Hanon asked curiously. "Why did you stop?"

The crimson eyed girl shook her head. "I just want to prepare myself mentally before facing my mom. As you can quite imagine, she was pretty upset when I told her that Kyla had being captured and was being held prisoner in the human world."

The other three girls nodded. "I bet that wasn't a good day," Lucia said, trying to sound as compassionate as she could.

Katiya looked over at the entrance and took a deep breath. "I think I'm ready now…"

As they approached the entrance they could see two mermaids dressed in armor standing guard. As Katiya swam near, they quickly recognized her and snapped to attention. "Welcome home Princess!" they said in unison while bowing deeply.

Rina, Hanon and Lucia followed behind Katiya as she swam past the guards and into the castle. Inside they swam through a large decorated hallway and into a room where they were greeted by another white tailed mermaid. She looked to be many years older than Katiya and her shoulder length hair was accented with streaks of gray.

She bowed deeply as the four entered the room. "Welcome home, Princess Katiya," she greeted before turning to the other three mermaids accompanying her. "It is my honor to welcome you to the Kingdom of the Bering Sea," she said, bowing deeply.

Rina, Hanon and Lucia each returned the elder mermaid's bow.

With the formalities now out of the way, Katiya swam over and gave the elder mermaid a warm hug. "It's nice to be back home Natasha." She broke the embrace and turned to face the others.

"Rina, Hanon, Lucia, I would like to introduce you to Lady Natasha. She has been my nanny ever since I can remember," Katiya explained happily. "Natasha, this is Princess Rina from the Kingdom of the North Atlantic, Princess Hanon from the Kingdom of the South Atlantic and last but certainly not least, Princess Lucia from the Kingdom of the North Pacific."

Natasha bowed deeply once again. "Welcome to our humble kingdom Princesses. I hope you are able to help us with our problem."

"I hope so as well," Rina replied.

Natasha looked over at Katiya. "I am certain that after your extensive journey you could use a nice meal and a place to rest. I have taken the liberty of preparing a room for you to rest and recuperate in."

A smile and a look of relief filled the pink pearl Princesses face. "Ah, that will be nice! I haven't swum such a long distance in a very long time!"

Natasha gave the blond haired girl a smile. "Then please follow me and I will show you to your room," she offered and began to swim down a long well lit arched hallway. She stopped in front of a colorfully decorated door and reached out and opened it. "I do hope you find the accommodations to your liking."

Lucia swam into the well lit and lavishly decorated room and made a beeline straight over to one of the three large comfortable beds. She flopped herself down and sighed happily. "Ah, it's so soft," she giggled. "I'll have no trouble at all sleeping here!"

Rina and Hanon each swan in and looked around. The room was richly furnished and brightly colored. Each girl swam over to one of the remaining beds and sat down.

"Lucia's right, this bed is soft!" Hanon exclaimed happily as she ran her hand over the light green kelp blanket that was covering her bed.

Katiya swam in a moment later. "I'll leave you to rest for a little bit. Then later, I'll introduce you to my mother." With that she swam from the room and gently closed the door behind her.

**XXX**

Katiya and Natasha swam silently away from the room and down an adjoining corridor stopping when they reached the princess' room. Natasha stopped and looked deep into Katiya's crimson eyes and smiled. "Don't worry Katiya, we have the aid of the three mermaid princesses, Kyla will be alright."

The white pearl Princess nodded. "I know, but I'll feel better when she's back here annoying me and taking my stuff without my permission."

Natasha smiled back at her young ward. "You look like you could use some rest yourself Princess. Why don't you lie down for a little while and try to get some sleep?"

The white pearl Princess nodded. Now that she thought about it she hadn't really slept well since the incident had happened. "Yeah, I think you're right…"

The elder mermaid smiled. "I thought so. Now rest Princess, I'll get you later when your mother is ready to see you and the others."

Katiya nodded and swam over to her bed and lay down on the soft kelp blankets and closed her eyes.

Natasha watched silently until she was sure that the Princess was asleep before quietly swimming out of the room and closing the door behind her.

**XXX**

Rina stared out the large window at the ocean beyond the castle. She glanced back in the room at her roommates. Lucia and Hanon were both sleeping soundly. However she just couldn't seem to fall asleep herself. She wondered if Katiya was feeling guilt similar to what she'd felt after Noel had been captured by Gaito. She knew the feeling very well, as she had explained to Katiya earlier that day.

The green haired girl sighed and swam slowly back over to her bed and lay down. She sighed softly and attempted once again to get some much needed rest.

**XXX**

As evening approached Natasha once again approached Katiya's room and knocked lightly on the door. "Excuse me Princess, are you awake?" she asked curiously while opening the door.

"Yes I am, please come in Natasha," was the response from the other side of the darkened room.

The elder mermaid reached out and pushed the door open. Inside she found Katiya sitting on the edge of her bed, her crimson eyes were puffy and it was clear to the elder mermaid that she had been crying. "Are you alright Princess?" she asked in a concerned voice, swimming over and taking a seat next to the girl. "Have you been crying?"

"Yeah, I have," she sighed softly. "I keep having this terrible dream… reliving Kyla's capture… over and over," Katiya sighed.

Natasha gave the younger mermaid a compassionate look. "I know you are feeling guilty because Kyla ended up in that net. You feel responsible for the fact that she's now being held captive."

"Yeah… damn, if only I'd see that net a little sooner, Kyla wouldn't have swum into it."

"But it happened, and no matter what we think, things happen that we cannot prevent. But now instead of worrying about what happened, we have to focus on getting her back," Natasha said in a reassuring voice. "Remember we even have the three Princesses to help us in the human world. Our chances are very good at getting her back unharmed."

Katiya nodded, and for the first time since her sister was taken into the human world, she smiled. "Thank you Natasha, you always know just what to say to make me feel better."

"Come on now, let's get them and go see your mother," the elder mermaid said as she gave her white tail fin a gentle kick and swam over to the door. Katiya nodded and pushed herself off of the bed and joined her nanny. Together they left her room and headed back to the guest room.

Katiya knocked on the door and waited. A moment later Hanon opened the door and let the two mermaids swim inside.

"I hope that you are better rested," Natasha remarked in a cheery voice. "If you are ready, we will now go and see the Queen."

"I'm sure we are as ready as we will ever be," Rina replied plainly. She looked at the other two mermaids to her side and they nodded in agreement.

"Alright, if you'll follow me, we'll go to the throne room," Katiya said as she swam out of the room.

Rina, followed by Hanon and Lucia swam out of the room and followed Katiya and Natasha down a large arched passageway. It didn't take long for them to arrive at the Queen's throne room. One door was open and inside they could see the Queen. She looked quite regal and her white tail fin shimmered in the glow of the room lights. Her black hair was tied into two long ponytails that fell to her sides as she got up. Katiya paused outside and looked at the other three mermaid Princesses.

"I will go inside first and introduce each of you one at a time," she instructed. "Rina-chan, I'll start with you."

The green pearl Princess nodded and Katiya swam inside. Natasha stood by the door to receive the queue to have Rina enter.

**XXX**

Once all three princesses had been properly introduced, Queen Sasha swam down and stood in front of the, bowing slightly. "I welcome you to my kingdom," she said before returning to an upright position. "I truly appreciate the effort that it took you to make the trip here. Please take a seat," she said, indicating the large table at the far end of the room.

"I would like to thank you as well," Katiya said as she swam over to her mother and took a seat to her right side.

"We're happy to be here," Lucia said as she took her seat. "The castle is really nice your Highness!"

"We'll do all that we can to return your daughter to you," Rina added taking a seat across from the pink pearl Princess.

"Indeed we will!" Hanon chirped taking her seat next to Lucia.

"Thank you, your determination is very reassuring," the Queen replied. "I do fear for her safety, and I would like to personally go and help her. As it is, that is impossible, for I can't leave my people behind."

Katiya nodded. "I will be accompanying you when you go to the human world. She is my sister and my responsibility after all!"

"Well, first off do you have any idea where she is being held?" Hanon asked curiously.

Sasha sighed sadly, "Yes, according to our scouts, she is being held captive in an aquarium in town. What's worse is that they are treating her like an exotic attraction of sorts. Her captors are allowing people to pay them just to get a look at her."

"Evil disgusting humans, that's just what I'd expect from them," Katiya hissed venomously.

Rina growled angry. "I see! We need to get her out of there as soon as we can!"

"Yeah, she must really be scared!" Lucia added.

Katiya sighed. "It might not be that easy you know. I'm sure we can't just walk into that aquarium and take her out without someone noticing us."

"My daughter is correct about that," Sasha said, as she nodded her head. "We have little experience interacting with the human population; it's not going to be easy. Add to that the fact that you can't let them see you in your mermaid forms, or the same fate will befall you as well. Though your help is greatly appreciated, I do hope that you don't get into too much trouble."

Rina nodded. "It's a good thing we have experience in the human world."

"And that's precisely why we have asked you to aid in Kyla's return," Sasha replied.

"Yep, we know just how to act around them so that they have no idea that we are mermaids!" Hanon chirped.

Katiya grumbled. "The only real problem with all this is that I have to assume 'that form'."

Lucia looked at the white pearl Princess curiously. "You don't like your human form?"

"In a word… no!" the brunette replied curtly.

"Now, now Katiya, let's not bring this up right now." Sasha interrupted. "You know as well as I do Katiya, that there are things we all must do when the time comes to our family."

The raven haired girl remained silent but nodded in agreement.

Hanon looked at the white mermaid and smiled. "To be honest, I thought you looked kind of cute in your human form."

Rina rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Is this going to be a rescue or a fashion show?"

"This is nothing to laugh at! To the humans, my little Kyla is some kind of a freak show to them. Showing her off like she was some kind of a trophy..." Sasha growled.

"That's just like humans! They don't care about anything but themselves!" Katiya added angrily. "What gives them the right to present her like that? Evil creatures…"

"That's not entirely true you know," Hanon said defensively.

"Yeah, there are plenty of good humans out there!" Lucia added. These three mermaids would know better than most, since they had been living in the human world for quite some time now. While it was true that they had seen some bad humans, they also knew many good ones too!

The Queen gave an exasperated sigh, realizing that they accidentally struck some nerve in Lucia and Hanon. "That may be so; you would know living in the human world as long as you have. But... the humans that took Kyla are anything but good it seems."

Rina nodded. "That's true. But I also agree with Lucia and Hanon, there are some very nice humans."

"Then I say we go as soon as possible," Katiya said quickly. "I don't want my sister to have to spend any longer than necessary in the horrible place."

"Aw, I wanted to look around a bit first!" Lucia replied, sounding rather disappointed.

"Lucia focus, we are here to get Katiya's sister back, not go sightseeing!" Rina retorted.

The pink pearl Princess pouted a little but remained silent.

"If you wish to explore our kingdom, you may do so after you have retrieved Kyla. Then you will have the free time to do so," Sasha added.

The blond haired Princess nodded. "Oh, all right."

Rina bowed slightly and faced the Queen. "Your Highness, rest assured that we will do whatever it takes to get your daughter back!"

Hanon looked at the green haired girl next to her in surprise. "Rina... you sound so determined!"

Katiya gave the aquamarine mermaid a small smile. "And I think I know why that is."

Sasha smiled. "Whatever your reasons are, I'm glad to see such determination!"

Katiya turned and faced the elder mermaid next to her. "Then if we may mother, we will leave as soon as we can!"

Sasha nodded in agreement. "Yes, of course! I will hope for your safe return!"

"Thank you your Highness!" Rina replied as she stood and bowed to the Bering Sea's ruler.

Lucia also stood and bowed. "We will do our best!"

Hanon smiled. "Indeed! We will do whatever it takes for her safe return!" she said before bowing.

"Then we will be leaving mother. When you see me again, it will be with Kyla at my side!"

Sasha nodded and smiled at her daughter. "I am looking forward to it, Katiya."

The mermaids bowed once again and swam from the room and out into the hallway.

"We will rest tonight, and leave first thing in the morning," Katiya instructed. "For now, I would suggest that you return to your room and try to get some rest. I will instruct Natasha to deliver your evening meal to you there."

Rina nodded. "That sounds fine," she replied. "I'm sure we will need all our strength for tomorrow."

"Yeah, that's true," Hanon agreed. "Who knows what will happen once we get into the human world. It may be much different than anything we've experienced in Japan."

"I guess that means no sightseeing tonight?" Lucia asked innocently.

"No Lucia, not until we have Kyla-chan back safe and sound," Rina replied.

With that, the Baltic Princess led the three mermaid Princesses back to their guest room and after bidding them good night, she headed to her own room. Inside the darkened room she lay down and looked at the ceiling above her. _"Hold on Kyla, we're on our way…" _she thought to herself as she closed her eyes.


	4. Mermaid Prisoner

_Thank you's go out this time to __**xXSakuraBlossomsXx, AkiraWhiteMermaid, Darkness-Chill, **__and __**Adrimarie**__ for their reviews of the previous chapters. Thanks guys, I really appreciate it!_

_Special thanks to __**Peach the Hedgehog**__ for her help with this chapter. _

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, it's still not mine. If it were, the anime would be in English! _

_**Chapter 4: Mermaid Prisoner**_

"Kyla listen, stay calm… I'll come for you…"

_The words echoed through the young mermaid's mind as she was pulled away from her sister and out of the only place she'd ever known. She felt herself being jerked about as the large fish filled net was brought over the edge of the pitching ship. A moment later the bottom fell away and the fish tumbled into the vessel's holding tank, leaving Kyla hanging upside down by her tail. _

_Terror filled her eyes as she stared back at the four men looking at her, their mouths hanging agape. Embarrassed, she quickly tried to cover herself up. Though her seashell bra was still in place, she felt very exposed. Pain began to invade her paralyzed mind as her weight began to cause the netting to cut into her tail. She knew she was in deep trouble! _

_Finally one of the fishermen, an older looking man with frizzy gray hair and a rough beard spoke. "Well… lookie here boys, it seems we've caught ourselves a mermaid!"_

"_Hot damn!" another slightly younger man shouted. "That fishy girl's gonna make us famous!" _

_Hot tears began to fill Kyla's crimson eyes as she realized that the prospects of them releasing her back into the sea were fading quickly. She tried to avoid their stares by turning her head away and forcing her eyes closed._

"_I don't think we should keep her," a third fisherman, who appeared to be the youngest member of the crew, finally spoke up. "After all, it's said that mermaids are the sirens of the sea and will lead sailors to their doom. I think we should get her off the ship as soon as possible!" _

_A tiny sliver of hope found its way into Kyla's thoughts upon hearing that man. "Perhaps I'll get out of this yet," she thought. But her hope was quickly dashed. _

"_Johnny my boy, you've been listening to way too many stories!" the older gray haired sailor said. "No sir, this mermaid's coming with us!" _

"_I still don't like it Cap'n," the younger sailor replied. "She looks like she's terrified and in pain," he added, pointing to the grimace pasted on Kyla's face. _

"_Yeah, you're right about that, we should get her out of that net before it gets totaled," The captain agreed. He motioned with his hand to the other two crewmembers who nodded in understanding. _

_Kyla's eyes were still closed so she didn't see the two men approach, remove their knives and cut her entangled tail out of the netting. The only thing she knew is that she'd felt herself fall and had ended up in the same holding tank that the fish had been deposited into. Trying to hide, she attempted to swim as far into the tank as possible._

_The young mermaid's heart filled with sorrow and fear as she listened to three out of the four fishermen talking about how they were going to get a lot of money for her. Oh, if only she had paid more attention earlier when she was playing around with Katiya, this wouldn't have happened! She would be safe and sound back in the water where she belonged. And not being held captive in this stupid tank, but the waters of the sea!_

_The youngest fisherman however hadn't spoken in a while. Johnny, as he had been called, was the only one out of the four that suggested putting her back into the sea. Of course, she never heard anything about mermaids being the 'siren of the sea' and causing humans to go to their doom. It had to be some superstitious human wives tale._

_It was like she had been put on display in front of these men. No matter how far she tried to flee from their view, she was being constantly stared at. Kyla wasn't getting much privacy and it was not because of the fact that there were fish in this tank too._

_Finally, after a long moment of silence, the young sailor opened his mouth. "I don't think she likes all of us staring at her like this. We should probably go."_

_Of course the others didn't listen, but at least he tried to give the young white mermaid some room. Well, privacy at least anyway. Heck, even though he was human, he knew what that was all about. And even his mother taught him that it is impolite to stare at someone the way they were now._

**XXX**

_Tears filled Kyla's crimson eyes as she sadly swam around the little tank. She tried to sing in order to make her feel better, but it didn't matter how hard she tried. She was beginning to miss her home and family terribly. And if she knew her sister, Katiya, she was probably blaming herself about this whole thing._

_No, to Kyla it was her fault. If only she had paid more attention when they were playing around, her tail fin wouldn't have been caught in the net. At least by now those four were tired of staring at her. At least she was alone now if you didn't count the fish being with her._

"_Hey… are you okay?" a familiar voice asked suddenly._

_Kyla looked up from where she was and swam to the top, recognizing that the voice belonged to the young fisherman named Johnny. She wondered what he could want, and why he would come back to see her. Her head broke the surface of the water, and when she saw the sailor, she could tell that he didn't look very happy._

"_Look… I'm really sorry about all this. It wasn't my idea to keep you on board… but the Cap'n is thinking about selling you to the Aquarium in town, and putting you up on display for everyone to see."_

"_What?" Kyla cried out in alarm._

_Johnny sighed softly. "Forgive me, young mermaid. I wanted to stop them, really I did. I told them you should be returned to the sea where you belong, and that you don't deserve being cooped up in a tank all day." He clenched his right hand into a fist and hit the palm of his left. "But no one here will listen to me! All they care about is getting rich!"_

_When Kyla saw the anger on the human's face, she could tell that he wasn't lying about what he said. Which she could believe him, she realized, for everything that he had said so far. He tried to get her released, even tried to give her some privacy earlier, so she wasn't stared at. This meant… that this human was good. "Couldn't you just let me go?" she pleaded._

_The sailor's face softened and he sighed quietly. "I would love to do that. Really, I would. But at this point, there is just no way… I just can't."_

"_Why not?" the white mermaid demanded. "You just told me that you think my place is in the sea, so why not help me to return there? Please… help me!" _

"_I'll be seen if I let you go," the man explained. "The Cap'n and the others won't be pleased with me when they find out I'm sure. Who knows, they might even toss me in to join you." _

"_So, in other words, you won't help me anymore," Kyla questioned, trying to sound angry, but instead she sounded really sad. She was really getting homesick now; her home back in the Bering Sea was where she wanted to be more than anything._

"_I didn't say that," the human male said quickly. "I just can't help you right now, you see. But I will find a way, and I will return you to the sea where you belong. That's a promise!"_

_Kyla's eyes widened in surprise when she heard the sailor's determined words, he sounded so determined and sincere. Was it possible he meant the words he said? After all, Johnny seemed a lot more trustworthy than his three companions._

**XXX**

Kyla swam to the corner of her tank and curled herself up behind some large stones. She'd thought back to the day of her capture more often than she should have. But she was able to piece things together, even now, trapped in this tiny tank for the whole world to take a look at her.

That young fisherman that she'd met had quickly become a friend. He returned every night to check up on her, even managing to sneak her fresh fish to eat. How he managed to pull that all off without being seen by other humans she didn't know. But at least now she knew that he was true to his word.

Sadly he still didn't know how to free her, especially now that she was being held in the aquarium. He had explained to her that there were these things called security cameras and there was someone watching them all the time. She had never heard of anything like that before, but then again, the human world was such a strange place! According to Johnny, the security cameras would catch the two trying to make a getaway. He had assured her that somehow, he would get her back to the sea.

The white mermaid had not forgotten about her sister Katiya either. She wondered if Katiya was on her way right now. Hopefully, she was bringing help with her. Suddenly a thought crossed her mind. Maybe her sister could combine forces with Johnny! If they worked together, surely they could get her out of this tank and back to the sea!

But for the time being she was trapped and until that time came, Kyla would remain in the tank with the eyes of just about every human staring directly at her. In some strange way it would have been nice to be the center of attention. But not like this! Not to be hauled out of the sea and placed in front of the world like she was. Knowing that you are a prisoner at best really sucks the joy out of it very quickly indeed. And that was something she was experiencing first hand.

The young girl looked over the top of the rocks and sighed. There just seemed no way out and slowly… she was beginning to lose hope that she would ever see her home and family again.


	5. Operation Mermaid Rescue Part One

_Thank you's go out this time to __**xXSakuraBlossomsXx, AkiraWhiteMermaid, **__and __**Laney-chan**__ for their reviews of the previous chapter. Thanks guys! _

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, it's still not mine. If it were, the anime would be in English! _

_**Chapter 5: Operation Mermaid Rescue Part One**_

In the early hours of the following morning, four mermaids made their way out of the Bering Sea kingdom and headed towards a far away shore. The early morning light filtered down through the water, illuminating the looks of determination filling their faces as they swam forward.

Katiya led the group and she was followed closely by Rina. Lucia and Hanon followed as well, but remained a short distance behind. The white mermaid looked back at the two stragglers and scowled. "Come on you two, we need to hurry."

Lucia groaned and gave her pink tail fin a kick. "How far is it anyway?"

Katiya rolled her eyes and tried to maintain a calm demeanor. She complained about distance yesterday as well, so this shouldn't surprise her. "It's not far, maybe a couple of hours if we swim fast."

Hanon gave her friend a playful shove. "Why don't you use this as an opportunity to do some sightseeing? That will help pass the time."

The pink pearl Princess nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Rina shook her head. "This isn't the time for sightseeing!" she said, her voice scolding.

"You can do your sightseeing once Kyla is back safe and sound," Katiya added plainly.

The four mermaids continued to swim for another three hours in relative silence. It was just before noon when they finally arrived at the shore near where the fishing boat had docked on that fateful day. Katiya stopped and motioned for the other three mermaids to remain below the water's surface while she swam up and took a look around. Rina, Hanon and Lucia waited on the rocky bottom near an outcropping of dark green seaweed. They watched carefully as the white mermaid swam away from them and broke the surface.

Katiya surfaced and looked around cautiously. She knew that being this close to the shoreline exposed her to the possibility of being seen by a human. Her crimson eyes scanned the water and the shoreline carefully. Once she was sure that the coast was clear, she dipped her herself back beneath the waves and motioned for the other mermaids to join her.

Rina quickly swam up and joined the Bering Sea Princess, followed by Hanon and Lucia.

"We need to be quick; I don't want to be seen by humans," Katiya instructed as she swam the remaining distance to the shore and pulled herself up onto the rocky shoreline.

"Burr…, it's really cold here," Hanon said as she emerged from the water and dried herself off, reverting to her human form. "It's even snowing a little," her teeth chattering to add effect.

"Don't worry, we thought of that," the white mermaid replied, taking a dark blue colored bag off her back. "Natasha packed this last night and gave it to me before we left."

The brunette opened the bag and reached inside. She pulled her hand out a moment later and removed a sealed package that was pink in color. She then repeated the process, removing aquamarine, green and white colored packages as well. "Inside you will find a heavy winter jacket, scarf, knit cap, and gloves," she explained as she handed the colored packages to the other mermaids.

The Princess of the North Pacific was the first to open her package and she looked inside. "It's so cute!" Lucia squealed as she dressed herself. "Look, mine is even pink!"

"Where did you get these?" Hanon questioned curiously as she pulled the sides of her aquamarine colored knit cap down over her ears.

Katiya simply shrugged her shoulders. "To be honest, I have no idea where Natasha got them from, or how she was able to get them in colors that match your pearls. If you want to know, you'll have to ask her. But I don't know if she will answer."

"Well, I'm glad she thought of them, it's really cold here," Rina added, her breath coming out in small puffs of white.

"Ha, you really think this is cold?" Katiya laughed sarcastically. "You should see it during the winter!"

"This isn't winter!" Lucia cried out in surprise. "But it's so cold and it's snowing!"

"Nope it isn't," the white pearl Princess answered plainly. She grumbled loudly as she pulled on her gloves. "Now let's get going."

"Geez, what's your problem?" Hanon asked, obviously annoyed at Katiya's grumbling.

"I hate my human form," she answered simply.

"Yeah, we know. You told us that already," Lucia retorted. "I think you look cute though," she added giving the girl a smile.

"Whatever. Now, can we finally get going?"

"Yeah sure, just lead the way," Hanon answered with a sigh.

Katiya nodded and began to make her way carefully along the rocky shoreline towards the town not far away.

Once they arrived at the outskirts of town Katiya stopped. "I wonder where this aquarium place is. I have no idea what it might even look like."

Rina looked around. "Well, this doesn't seem to be a very big town; it shouldn't be too difficult to locate."

"That's true, but I have no idea what to even look for?" the white mermaid replied.

"Oh, I think I know!" Lucia chimed as she pointed to a brightly lit sign not too far away. "Look at that sign! It says 'See the Mermaid' and it has an arrow pointing towards that big blue building over there."

All four mermaids looked in the direction the pink pearl Princess was pointing. "Well, if that's where Kyla is, then let's go!" Hanon added.

The girls made a quick beeline for the building, passing by many other snow covered structures, such as restaurants and even a hotel or two. However, they soon discovered that it wasn't going to be easy getting inside. To their dismay, there was a long line of humans that stretched out the door and almost to the end of the building.

"Oh wow, look at all the people!" Lucia gasped in surprise. "How are we ever going to get in there?"

"I suppose the simplest way would be to just get in line and wait," Rina answered as she walked up to the end and stopped. "That seems to be the best way to get in without drawing much attention to ourselves."

The other three mermaids nodded and joined the green haired girl in line.

In Katiya's mind it seemed to take an eternity to finally reach the inside of the building. In actuality the line had moved fairly quickly, taking only twenty five minutes for the mermaids to make it inside. But it felt like an eternity!

"There, there… I can see where she is!" Katiya said pointing to a large glass window. "Look at all those people; I'm sure that's where Kyla is!" she added.

She was just about to bolt over to the tank when Rina grabbed her shoulder. "Wait, we can't just rush over and pull Kyla-chan out of that tank. We need to come up with a plan first."

Katiya looked back at Rina and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. If we were to do that, we'd all likely end up as sideshow freaks for these despicable humans."

"So, what should we do first Rina-chan?" Hanon questioned curiously.

"First, I think we need to let Kyla-chan know that we're here," Rina began. "Lucia, I want you and Katiya to do that."

The pink pearl Princess nodded and looked at the taller brunette next to her. "Come on Katiya-chan; let's let your sister know that help is on the way."

The white pearl Princess nodded in agreement and turned to walk over to the tank followed by Lucia.

"What are we going to do Rina?" Hanon asked.

"You and I are going to try and find a way to get her out of here."

The aquamarine Princess looked around. "That's not going to be very easy. Look at all the people."

Rina looked around at the mass of human faces and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll say, this place is packed."

**XXX**

Lucia and Katiya walked over to the large glass window and looked inside. An audible gasp escaped the white Princesses lips when she saw her sister sitting at the far end, her back to the window.

"Kyla…"

"Take it easy Katiya-chan. We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves." Lucia warned.

Katiya nodded and closed her eyes. Focusing her concentration she spoke to herself. _"Kyla, turn around and look…" _

**XXX**

Kyla sat silently in the back of the tank. Her thoughts were confused. How could she have ended up here and how was she going to get back home? She was about to swim over to the outcropping of rocks when a familiar voice filled her mind. She recognized it instantly and looked over at the glass window. There she saw her sister Katiya! Sure she looked human now and had brown hair, but she had seen her sister's human form before.

Not wanting to draw attention to her sister, she resisted the urge to swim over to her. Instead she settled herself down on the sandy bottom of the tank and closed her eyes. _"Kat, you came! I knew you would!"_

"Kat," Lucia said with a grin nudging the white mermaid playfully.

"Yeah Kat, what about it?" Katiya retorted.

"Oh, nothing," the blonde giggled. "I just didn't figure you for a 'Kat'."

The white mermaid ignored the blonde's comment and returned her thoughts to her sister._ "Kyla, I'm here with three other mermaid Princesses. We're here to bring you back home."_

The younger mermaid nodded. _"That won't be easy. Johnny said there are these things called security cameras that the humans use to watch me all the time." _

Katiya gave her sister a confused look. _"Johnny… who's Johnny?"_

"_He's a human,"_ she answered_. "He was on the boat that brought me here. He tried to get them to let me go but the other humans wouldn't listen. Now, he brings me fish almost every day. He's my friend."_

A look of surprise and disgust filled Katiya's face. How could her little sister befriend a human? He was after all, one of the very creatures who were currently holding her against her will and displaying her like so spectacle.

Lucia closed her eyes and concentrated her thoughts. "_Kyla-chan, I'm Princess Lucia from the Kingdom of the North Pacific. I've come here with the Princess Rina and Princess Hanon to help your sister. You say this human brings you fish?"_

The young mermaid nodded slowly_. "Yes. He comes after the aquarium is closed and brings me fresh fish." _

"_I see,"_ Lucia replied. She looked at Katiya and smiled. I think I have a way to get your sister out of here.

**XXX**

"Rina, I don't think we can get to where Kyla-chan is being held without drawing unwanted attention," Hanon said plainly. "I don't see any doors except the ones that we came through originally."

The green haired mermaid nodded in agreement. "Yeah I know, but there has to be a way, we just have to find it."

Hanon was about to speak when a tall man with blondish brown hair blue jeans and a red and white flannel shirt walked over and stood in front of Rina.

"Hey baby, what's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" he asked.

Rina ignored the man and attempted to step around him.

"Hey, where ya going so fast sweetie, we only just met?" he said reaching his hand out and placing it on the green pearl Princess' shoulder. "Why don't you let me show ya around a bit?"

"I'll give you ten seconds to remove your hand," Rina growled.

"Aw, don't be like that baby. I only wanna have some fun with ya," he replied.

"I'm not interested in your shenanigans, now if you'll excuse me."

"Hey, hey… come on now, I'm just trying to be friendly with ya. So how about it, ya wanna…"

He never had the chance to finish his sentence. Rina grabbed him around the waist and before he even had a chance to react, she stuffed him headfirst into a nearby green trash barrel.

"So, now that the trash has been deposited of, let's go and find Katiya and Lucia," the green haired girl said, dusting off her hands nonchalantly.

Hanon nodded and looked over at the squirming legs sticking out of the trash barrel. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea Rina-chan."

**XXX**

"So Lucia-chan, what's your idea?" the brunette questioned curiously.

"I was thinking, if that human can get to Kyla-chan without drawing attention to himself, I figure can use him to get to Kyla," the blonde answered cheerfully.

"Um, that's your brilliant plan? You're kidding, right?" Katiya retorted. "How can we possibly trust a human?"

"I know you distrust them, but in this particular situation, we need his help. It may not be what you want to do Katiya-chan, but I don't think we have any other choice," Lucia replied. "And just so you know, not all humans are bad."

"She's right, it seems as though we have no other choice but to trust a human," Rina added as she and Hanon walked up. The pink and white pearl mermaids turned to see the other girls coming toward them. "How is Kyla-chan?"

"She's scared, but otherwise all right," Katiya answered, taking a small glance back to the tank where her sister was. Katiya and Lucia quickly got Rina and Hanon caught up on things. Telling them about the security cameras and about the human named Johnny.

"I think it's a good idea to use him to help us gain access to Kyla-chan," Rina explained. "All we have to do is have her tell him to meet up with us."

The brunette narrowed her eyes at the thought. "I don't like that idea at all." Katiya replied. "What if he betrays us and brings more humans with him to trap and capture us?"

"I understand your concern, but that's just a chance we'll have to take," Hanon answered. "Honestly I don't see any other way."

The elder white mermaid sighed loudly. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. We have to take the chance to get my sister out of there." With that she turned back towards her sister and closed her eyes_. "Kyla, we want you to have your friend Johnny meet us outside the aquarium. We want to ask if he can help us to get you out of there."_

Kyla nodded. _"Okay, I'll tell him when he visits me tonight. Please be careful Katiya!"_

The elder white mermaid nodded back. _"We will Kyla, we will…"_

_A/N: Gonna leave you with a little cliffhanger! Will Johnny agree to help free Kyla? Or will he betray the young mermaid and let her sister and the other mermaids get caught? Reviews are appreciated. Till next time, Ja ne! _


	6. Operation Mermaid Rescue Part Two

_Thank you this time to __**AkiraWhiteMermaid, Adrimarie**__, __**Laney-chan, **__and__** Midnight Strawberry**__ for their reviews of the previous chapter. Thanks guys! _

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, it's still not mine. If it were, the anime would be in English! _

_**Chapter 6: Operation Mermaid Rescue Part Two**_

Kyla swam nervously around the small tank, wondering just how she would tell Johnny about her sister and the other mermaids. Or, the fact that she wanted to use him to help her to escape. Giving her white tail fin a kick she finned over to the glass window and peered out. The room, which was normally packed with humans staring at her, was now empty. Her crimson eyes scanned the room for any sign of movement.

"Hey Kyla, are you down there?" a familiar voice called out from above her.

Turning the young mermaid looked up and smiled as she recognized Johnny's smiling face looking down at her. Her smile quickly faded though as she finned herself slowly towards the surface. Thoughts raced through the mermaids mind. _"What if he can't help me?"_ her mind screamed back. _"What if he gets caught…?"_

She broke the surface a few feet away from the worn wooden platform her male friend was standing on. She tried to put on a fake smile, but from the look of concern on Johnny's face, it was apparent that she wasn't very convincing.

"Is there something wrong Kyla? You don't look very happy to see me."

Kyla swam over and placed her arms on the damp wood next to where her friend stood. "It's not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just that, well, to be honest…" she stammered."I have a favor to ask you."

"You need to ask a favor of me?" Johnny asked sounding a bit surprised.

The raven haired girl nodded. "Yes I do. You see, my sister and some friends have come to bring me back home. And well, they need some help to pull that off. So they asked me if I could have you help them."

"I see, but what can I possibly do to help?" the young man questioned. "It's not like I can just carry you out or anything."

"No, no it's nothing like that," she replied. "To be honest I really don't know what their plans are. All I know is that they asked me to have you meet them outside the aquarium when you leave today."

The fisherman nodded. "How will I know who she is? What does your sister look like? Does she look like you?"

"Well, sort of, but her hair will be a lot shorter and lighter in color," she explained. "And of course she has legs and not a tail," she added with a small giggle.

"Alright, I'll look for her when I leave. You said that she would be outside right?"

"Yes that's right. But I have to warn you, she won't be alone. There will be three other girls with her," the mermaid added. "They are the friends she brought to help her."

Johnny nodded in understanding. "Okay, so I'm looking for four girls, one of them has brown hair and no mermaid tail."

Kyla giggled. "None of them have tails silly. I was just saying that about Katiya since you asked if she looked like me."

"Katiya… is that your sister's name?"

The white mermaid nodded her head. "Yes, that it is. Oh, and a bit of a warning about her… she doesn't like humans very much."

"Alright, I think I have it," he said trying to sound as confident as he could. "I'll give you your fish and then go out and look for your sister and her friends."

Johnny reached into a basket on the opposite side of where Kyla was and pulled out two large sea bass. He gave the young mermaid a wink as he handed her the fish. Happily the mermaid accepted the two yummy morsels and looked up. "Thank you Johnny," she said softly. "You know, after I'm gone… I… I'm going to miss seeing you."

"Hey, don't say things like that!" the young man told her. "You are a mermaid and you belong back in the sea, not cooped up here for the entire world to ogle at."

Kyla nodded slowly, she knew he was right. Yet in the short time that she'd known him, she felt that they had connected in some special way. "You had better get going; we don't want to raise any suspicions."

Johnny stood up and gave his fishy friend a smile. "Soon you will be back where you should be Kyla. Your home is in the sea, not up here on land." With that he walked over to the door and left the room. Kyla submerged and swam over to the corner of the tank where she munched on the tasty fish.

**XXX**

Katiya waited impatiently outside the front entrance of the aquarium and her constant pacing was starting to wear on the nerves of a certain blond standing nearby.

"Can you stand still Katiya-chan?" Lucia asked, sounding a little annoyed. "Pacing back and forth isn't going to make that guy show up any faster you know."

Katiya shot the pink mermaid an angry look. "Look, I can't help but be nervous here. So if my pacing bothers you so much then maybe you should just go someplace where you can't see it."

"Sorry Katiya-chan, geez, I was just saying is all," Lucia retorted. "No need to bite my head off over it!"

Katiya was about to respond when Rina stepped between them. "That's enough you two! All this bickering isn't going to help get Kyla-chan back, nor is it going to make her friend show up any faster."

Katiya just shook her head and sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." She looked over at the pink pearl Princess. "Sorry about biting your head off Lucia-chan. I'm just really worried about Kyla, that's all."

Lucia nodded. "It's alright I know you are worried about your sister. I shouldn't have said anything about your pacing."

Rina gave them a small smile. "Good. Now let's keep an eye out for your sister's friend, he should be showing up anytime now."

**XXX**

As Johnny made his way back towards the front of the aquarium, voices in a nearby office caught his attention. He slowed down and moved carefully over to the edge of the doorway and eavesdropped on the conversation. His eyes widened when he realized that what was being said had to do with moving Kyla to another location! He wasn't quite sure when or where, but he knew that it wasn't a good thing!

He listened for a few minutes more and what really frightened him was they were planning to move her in the next day or two! Quickly, but as quietly as possible, the fisherman moved away from the doorway and towards the exit. Once outside he ran around to the front of the building and looked around for Kyla's sister and her friends.

**XXX**

"Hey there's someone that looks like him!" Hanon pointed out as Johnny rounded the corner of the building.

"Are you sure about that Hanon?" Katiya asked cautiously. "It could just be another human trying to trick us."

"Quit being so paranoid Katiya-chan, even if he was planning on tricking us, how would he know who we are or what we look like?" Hanon replied. "No, I'm sure that has to be him!"

Johnny noticed the four girls almost immediately and after a moment, cautiously approached them. He walked over to the taller brown haired girl and stopped a few feet away from her. "Um, are you Katiya?" he asked, his voice sounding a little cautious and unsure.

The white mermaid scowled back at him. "Yeah, that's me. You must be Johnny."

The fisherman nodded his head. "Yeah, that's me. Kyla told me that you would meet me out here."

"That's right. We need your help in getting Kyla-chan out of there," Lucia said without being asked.

"You must be one of the friends Kyla told me about." He looked around at the other three girls. "My name is Johnny in case you didn't know that already."

"Don't worry, we know who you are," Rina replied. "Now what we need to know is if you can help us or not."

Johnny thought a moment before answering. "I can try; it all depends on what you have in mind for me to do."

"Well, we were thinking that if possible, you could help get one or two of us into the aquarium and over to where Kyla is being kept." Rina answered.

"I see… hm, getting a couple of you inside won't be too hard since there are only two guards on duty at night. One of them has to patrol the whole aquarium while the other monitors the cameras in the office, "Johnny replied.

"Good in that case this will be easier than I thought!" Hanon said a tone of excitement evident in her voice.

"Not so fast Hanon, what about those security cameras Kyla-chan was telling us about?" Lucia asked curiously. "Johnny just said that a guard watches those cameras all the time. How will we get to Kyla-chan without being seen?"

"That will be the real problem," Johnny answered. "There is supposed to be someone in the security office at all times watching those."

"There has to be a way around that. I haven't come this far only to fail!" Katiya said in an annoyed voice. She looked over at Johnny. "Look human, can you help us or not?"

The young man was taken aback by the white mermaids tone. "Um, sorry, I'll try my best," he stammered.

"Cut him some slack Katiya, getting mad at him won't make getting your sister out any easier," Rina said.

The white pearl Princess remained silent.

"I have an idea… there is something that we might be able to do," The fisherman said. "All we need to do is distract the person watching the cameras long enough for you to get in and to get Kyla out of the tank."

"Brilliant plan human, and just whom do you suggest we use as this decoy?" Katiya retorted angrily.

"You can use me to distract them. They know me so I don't think they would be suspicious of me being there," the fisherman replied. "First I'll get you into the building and up to where Kyla's tank is since there are no cameras along that way," he explained. "Then I will go down to the security office and try to distract the guard for as long as I can. Once I leave, it will be up to you to get her out of the tank and out of the aquarium as fast as possible."

"But what about you Johnny, won't you get blamed when Kyla comes up missing?" Hanon asked. "I mean, they will know that something was up since you were in the security office."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take. I don't see any alternative," he answered plainly.

Katiya nodded. _"Perhaps this human is really different…"_ she wondered to herself.

"Do you think we have time to pull this off today?" Lucia asked. "It's late after all; maybe we should come back tomorrow and let Kyla-chan know what we're planning."

"No, it can't wait! It has to be as soon as possible," Johnny said his voice full of urgency. "When I was leaving the building I overheard plans to move her to another aquarium further inland. They said that they wanted to move her in the next day or so."

"In that case, let's do it now." Katiya replied. "Rina-chan and I will go with Johnny and get Kyla. Hanon, you and Lucia-chan be ready out here to help get her to safety in case we are spotted."

The pink and aquamarine mermaids nodded in understanding. "We'll be right here if you need us." Hanon said giving a 'thumbs up' sign.

"Alright, once we have Kyla out of the aquarium, we'll all meet back at the docks. Once we are all there, we'll head back to my kingdom." Katiya instructed. "Any questions?"

With everyone in agreement Johnny lead Katiya and Rina back around to the rear of the aquarium. There he pointed at a door. "That's where we go in and come out. Remember that in case you get separated."

Both girls nodded silently and followed the young fisherman as he opened the metal door and walked into the dimly lit building.

Inside the hallway Johnny pointed towards an off white colored door. "That door leads to a set of stairs that will take you up to the top of Kyla's tank. There is a wooden platform that you can stand on. Give me about five minutes to get to the security office before you head up."

Both Katiya and Rina nodded in understanding. The waited and watched as Johnny headed down the hallway.

The white pearl princess looked at the green haired girl next to her. "It's been five minutes, let's go," she said simply and reached out for the doorknob.

**XXX**

Kyla was curled in a ball on the bottom of her tank, wondering how long it would be before her sister returned for her. She pushed herself up from the sandy bottom and finned over to the outcropping of rocks. There she sat and leaned against the cold stones. He mind raced with thoughts. "_What if they can't get me out? What if they get caught? What if…" _

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening and footsteps approaching her tank. At first she quickly swam behind the rocks, not knowing who was there. She peered up at the water's surface and waited.

**XXX**

"Over there, that has to be the tank where they are holding Kyla-chan!" Rina said as she pointed towards the opening of a large tank just to their left.

Katiya nodded and hurried along the damp and trusting metal stairway that lead to the top and climbed up. She made her way carefully across the damp wooden platform and peered down into the tank. A smile suddenly filled her face. There, looking back at her was her sister!

As soon as the young white mermaid recognized the face peering into her tank she gave her porcelain white tail fin a powerful kick and headed towards the surface.

As soon as her sister broke the surface Katiya grabbed her and wrapped her in a towel that she'd grabbed from a nearby rack. Now out of the water and completely dried off, Kyla reverted into her human form. In many ways she looked similar to her older sister. Her hair was now a lighter brown and her eyes were a soft ocean blue.

Kyla hugged her sister tightly. "I knew you would come for me Kat!"

"Of course I would come! There is no way I could let you stay in the hands of humans!" Katiya replied as she returned her sister's hug.

"Um, I hate to break up this touching reunion, but we really need to get her out of here as fast as possible!" Rina pointed out, her voice full of obvious urgency.

Katiya nodded and helped her sister get dressed. "Rina-chan is right; we need to get out of here! I don't know how long that human can keep the other humans distracted."

Kyla paused in mid step. "A Human…? Do… do you mean Johnny?"

Rina nodded. "When we couldn't figure out a way around the security cameras, he volunteered to keep the people watching the security cameras distracted long enough for us to get you out of here."

"But what about him, what if they find out that he was part of my escape?" Kyla asked worriedly. "He could end up in a lot of trouble as a result!"

"He knew the risks involved and yet he did it anyway," The green pearl Princess explained. "I think he did it because he feels partly responsible for your capture."

Now fully dressed Katiya helped her sister towards the ladder. "Come on Kyla; let's get out of this vile place!"

**XXX**

Down the hallway Johnny was doing his best to keep the elder security guard's attention away from the two black and white monitors sitting on the middle of the portly man's desk.

"Is something the matter Johnny?" The man questioned? "You seem somewhat distracted."

"Nah, nothing's wrong, I… I just was thinking of this girl I met recently."

The elder man gave the fisherman a sly smile. "Ah yes, girl problems the bane of every young man's life!"

"Yeah, girl problems," he answered nervously. "I just met her a few days ago and I thought we had really hit it off," he added glancing at the monitor out of the corner of his eye. "But this afternoon she told me that she has to leave soon."

The older man shook his head and chuckled. "My advice to you my boy is to just avoid girls for now. You are much too…" The man stopped in mid sentence as he looked over at the monitor on his desk. "What the hell!" He exclaimed in surprise. "That mermaid… she's gone!"

Johnny stood back and watched as the man jumped up from this place and ran out of the small room. A few moments later the fisherman poked his head out of the office and after making sure the coast was clear, headed quickly in the direction of the exit.

**XXX**

Kyla tried her best to keep up with the fleeing girls in front of her, but this was only the second time in her life that she'd taken on her human form. And the idea of using legs instead of her tail fin to move was still quite confusing for her.

The younger mermaid stumbled on the damp tiles and felt herself falling forward. But before she could hit the gray colored floor rushing towards her face, she was grabbed and pulled back up.

"A little unstable are we sis?" Katiya teased as she placed her arm around her younger sibling. "Don't worry, I'll help you."

Kyla nodded. "Thanks Kat."

The sounds of men shouting filled the mermaids ears, causing them to pick up their pace as they headed towards the door, and freedom!

**XXX**

Outside the aquarium Lucia and Hanon waited nervously. Each girl watched the side of the building, waiting for Katiya and Rina to emerge with Kyla.

"Um, what will we do if they got caught?" Lucia asked in a worried voice. "I mean, it's taking so long and all."

"Don't worry so much Lucia," Hanon replied. "I'm sure they are just being cautious."

The pink pearl Princess shook her head. "Yeah, I guess you're right. After all, I'm sure we'd know if they had been seen!"

**XXX**

Rina reached the door first and thrust it open. "Hurry, we need to get to where Lucia and Hanon are waiting for us!"

The white pearl Princess nodded and once outside she turned towards the far end of the building and began to run towards it with Kyla and Rina following closely behind her. As they rounded the corner, Kyla screamed in pain and fell to the icy snow covered pavement.

Katiya and Lucia reached her first. Tears were streaming from the young mermaid's ocean blue eyes and her hand held her left ankle tightly. "Ouch, it hurts… my foot, I fell!" She moaned.

"It looks like she hurt her ankle." Lucia said. "She can't run like that."

Rina and Hanon watched from a short distance away. Anxious looks filled the two mermaid's faces as they waited.

"Lucia, help me to carry her!" Katiya instructed as she placed her arm around her injured sister and helped her to her feet.

Lucia nodded silently and placed her arm around the younger white mermaid.

Katiya looked over at Rina and Hanon. "Go on, we'll meet you at the docks like we planned!"

Hanon nodded. "Alright, be careful you three!"

Together with the pink pearl Princess Katiya carried her injured sister in the direction of the nearby docks. However, before they could get very far several cars with bright flashing lights screamed towards them. Not wanting to be spotted the three girls turned and ran in the opposite direction, Away from the approaching police and away from the safety of the ocean!

_I/m going to end here with a nice cliffhanger! Please read and review! I really like to hear what everyone thinks of my story. _


	7. A Race to the Sea!

_Thank you's go out this time to __**xXSakuraBlossomsXx, AkiraWhiteMermaid, **__and __**Laney-chan**__ for their reviews of the previous chapter. Thanks guys! _

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, it's still not mine. If it were, the anime would be in English! _

_**Chapter 7: A Race to the Sea! **_

"We need to hurry up and get out of here," Lucia said in an urgent tone. "We need to get back to the sea before they find us."

"Um, don't you think I know that? But just how do you expect us to get past those humans?" the white pearl Princess retorted, pointing at the crowd that was now forming outside the aquarium.

"Well, don't blame me…. It's not my fault that we ended up separated. It's not like I planned on something like this happening you know."

"Will you two please knock off the arguing?" Kyla interjected sounding rather irritated. "Bickering and complaining isn't helping our situation at all"

A sheepish look filled her sister's face. "Yeah, I suppose you're right Kyla. But we need to figure out where we are, and just how we can get back to the safety of the ocean without being seen."

Lucia nodded and looked over at the younger white mermaid. "Can you walk at all Kyla-chan?"

The brown haired girl carefully pushed herself to her feet and took a tentative step forward. Her face immediately contorted in agony and she let out an audible gasp. "Ow, it hurts…" she moaned. "I don't think I can walk on it."

"Hm, that's a real problem," Lucia murmured.

Tears welled in Kyla's soft ocean blue eyes. "I… I'm sorry for falling. It's just that… I'm not used to having human legs. This is only like the second or third time I've ever even been in my human form. Add to that it's so snowy and slippery."

Katiya glared angrily at the blond haired mermaid next to her. "It's not your fault Kyla and whether it's a problem or not Lucia, we're going to get you out of here and back home."

Lucia sighed. "Yeah, I know that Katiya. The question is, just how are we going to do that? She can't walk."

"To be honest, I don't care how we do it. If we have to, we'll carry her the whole way!" Katiya retorted loudly.

A worried look filled the pink pearl Princess' face. "Um, do you think we can? I mean, we don't know how far it is from here?"

"It doesn't matter how far it is from here. It could be a million miles for all I care! Look, either you are going to help me, or not. Which is it going to be?"

"Geez, can't you two give it a rest already?" Kyla sighed as she rolled her eyes. "I told you two already that fighting and arguing isn't helping us."

Katiya looked over at Lucia. "Yeah, I guess we need to do this together if we want to have any hope of getting out of this mess."

Lucia nodded. "Truce?"

Katiya nodded silently and helped her sister to her feet. Lucia joined her a moment later and helped support the injured girl. They looked around and as quickly and quietly as possible they headed down the street and away from the commotion in front of the aquarium.

**XXX**

Johnny once again found himself seated in the security office. He was just about to the exit when he was grabbed from behind by a large burly cop and brought back for questioning. He watched as the man paced back and forth in front of him.

"So kid, tell me, just where were you when that mermaid went missing?" The officer questioned directly.

The fisherman sighed. "I've already told you three times… I was right here with Sal when she disappeared. Ask him and he will confirm my story."

"Are you sure about that boy? I mean it's possible that you could have slipped out for a moment and helped her to escape. I've heard that you were something of a friend to her."

"Well, I did bring her fish if that's what you mean by a friend. But I only did that because they don't have enough fresh fish here to feed to her properly. It's like I've told you already, I was here the whole time. Why won't you believe me? I'm telling you the truth after all!" Johnny replied.

The cop stepped close and leaned in, placing his face near the young fisherman's. A strong smell of salami filled Johnny's nose as the man spoke. "It's because I don't believe a word you're saying boy, that's why. Let's look at the facts for a moment shall we? No one else was in the building except the two guards and you."

"Hey, did you ever think that maybe it was the other guard? I mean did you ever consider that he just might have helped her?" Johnny shot back.

"That's not possible. You see, we've already questioned him and he told us that he was near the penguins when she disappeared. The penguin exhibit is on the opposite side of the building. "

Johnny was about to speak when the door to the office opened and the elder security guard walked inside. He stopped and gave a curious look between the police officer and Johnny. "Hey, what's he doing here?"

The cop stepped back adjusted his uniform and looked over. "I'm questioning him about the mermaid's disappearance. After all, he was the only other person in the building besides yourself and the other guard."

"Is that so? Well, I can assure you that he was here with me the whole time."

Johnny smiled and let out a sigh of relief. "See, that's what I've been telling you the whole time! Now do you believe me?"

The cop grunted. "Yeah, I suppose so… However, I still think you had something to do with this whole thing."

"If you want to see who it was, why not just look at the tapes from the security cameras? That should show you who took her," the guard said as he pointed towards the monitors on the desk.

"Yeah, yeah, I was just about to suggest we do that," the cop retorted.

Johnny rolled his eyes and sighed. "Yeah, I bet you were," he mumbled.

The cop shot him an angry glare then watched as the guard took a seat at the desk. He flipped a few buttons and pressed a large red knob. All three watched as the tape from the camera rolled. Even though the image was pretty grainy it was quickly clear to the guard and police officer that it was two girls, one with long green hair and the second with shoulder length brown hair were responsible for the mermaid's disappearance.

"Look at that, it was those two girls who took the mermaid," the cop said, pointing at Katiya and Rina as they pulled Kyla out of the tank. "But the question is how did they get in?"

The security guard shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows? Maybe they hid somewhere and came out after the aquarium closed."

Johnny stood up cautiously and looked over at the police officer. "Um, sir… can I leave now?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," the cop replied. "But if you hear anything or you know who these girls are, I want you to tell me immediately."

Johnny nodded. "Yes sir, of course." He quickly headed to the door and out of the office. This time he was able to make it out of the aquarium. Outside he looked around nervously. _"I hope Kyla made it alright," _

**XXX**_  
_

"Hurry Hanon, we need to get as far away for here as we can," Rina urged. "We need to get back to the safety of the sea."

The aquamarine Princess nodded. "Yeah, I know. But what about Kyla-chan, I mean it looked like she was hurt."

"She's with her sister and Lucia…" Rina stopped mid-sentence when she realized what she'd just said. "Um, we need to find them before Katiya kills Lucia!"

A worried look filled Hanon's face. "Do you really think that Katiya would actually kill Lucia?"

The North Atlantic Princess rolled her eyes. "No, that's not what I meant. But you know how they don't seem to get along very well."

"I see your point," Hanon replied. "I think we should get to the meeting point and wait for them there."

"No, I think we need to try and find them. I mean, like you said, Kyla-chan looked like she was in pain and I don't think she was able to walk. They might need our help to get her back to the ocean."

Hanon nodded. "Good point." She looked around, observing her surroundings carefully. "I think at least for the moment, we're safe.

Rina shook her head in agreement. "I think we should head back towards the aquarium. Maybe we can find that guy, Johnny I think was his name. He might be able to help us find them."

Hanon nodded. "Yeah, that's a good idea. He knows this place after all."

The two mermaids got up from the spot they were hiding and looked around. After making sure that no one was around they headed back towards the aquarium.

**XXX**

Johnny was just about to head towards the docks when he recognized the two mermaid Princesses heading towards him. He quickly ran over to join them.

"Hey, you are two of Kyla's sister's friends… um, where is Kyla and the other two girls that were with you?" he asked in an alarmed voice.

"In all the chaos we got separated," Hanon replied. "Worse, Kyla-chan fell down and it looked like she might have hurt herself when we were trying to get away."

"Kyla is hurt! Where is she?"

"I already told you we got separated from them. For now, we don't know where they are," Rina answered. "We were hoping that you could help us find them though."

Johnny nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. Do you know where they might have gone?"

"I think I saw them heading that way," Hanon answered, pointing down a street that lead away from the aquarium.

"Down that road… that's not good. That street leads right down to the docks."

"Why is that a bad thing? They can get to the ocean for there, can't they?" Hanon asked.

"Yeah, they can. That is, if they can get past all the fishermen first."

"Why should that be a problem?" Rina questioned. "They are in their human forms after all so no one can tell that they are mermaids."

Johnny shook his head. "They're in their human forms! That's just the problem. Kyla and the others are so cute… those fishermen will attack them like a swarm of sharks!"

Rina nodded. "I see, that is a problem. Well, we'll just have to kick some fisherman ass if they decide to bother us."

"Yeah, knowing her dislike for humans, I doubt that Katiya will stand for their shenanigans," Hanon added. "But Lucia…. That might be another story."

"Well then let's get moving," Johnny said in an urgent tone. "The last thing we need is for them to draw more attention to themselves."

The two mermaid Princesses followed the fisherman as he led them down the street towards the docks.

**XXX**

"Hey look at all those boats over there; we must be near the ocean," Lucia said, pointing to the fishing vessels docked not far away.

"Um, I'm not too sure about this… this looks like the place I was first brought to after I was capture,." Kyla said as she looked around at the many large fishing boats tied to thick wooden pilings. "I have a very bad feeling about this… I don't think we should be here."

"Hey you girls over there!" a portly man dressed in orange colored rain gear shouted. "What's a couple of hotties like you doing hanging out around here?"

"Yeah, did you come here to give us some eye candy?" another shouted.

"I don't like this Kat; we need to get out of here," Kyla remarked, wincing for more than one reason. "These men… are just like the men who captured me."

"It's alright, as long as we're in our human forms, they can't tell that we are mermaids," the elder white Princess assured. "Just let Lucia and me handle them."

Lucia looked a little surprised at Katiya's comment. "Um Katiya-chan, what do you propose we do?"

Katiya glared back at the pink pearl Princess. "We'll do whatever it takes to clear the way to the sea, that's what!"

At that moment one of the taller fishermen, a man wearing worn blue jeans and a heavy dark brown wool coat stepped forward and reached out to take Katiya's hand. What happened next took the man completely by surprise! As his hand made contact with the Bering Sea princess, she took hold of his arm and flipped him casually over her shoulder!

"No way, did you see what she just did to Victor?" a shorted man wearing a red hat gasped, looking over to where the taller fisherman lay flat on his back on the damp wooden dock. "She just tossed him over her shoulder like he was a feather!"

"Yeah and anyone who comes close will have the same thing happen to them!" Katiya shouted loudly.

The men stepped back and watched curiously as Lucia helped Kyla towards the end of the docks.

"Hey, where are you girls going? There ain't anything down there cept the sea." A short portly man questioned. "Whatcha gonna do, go for a swim?"

"If only he knew how right he was…" Kyla whispered to Lucia who nodded in agreement.

Katiya moved back over to where her sister and Lucia stood waiting for her. "Come on you two, let's get moving."

"Hey, hey there… no need to hurry away. I like strong girls!" a large man dressed in an orange rain suit said as he stepped forward and stood in front of Katiya. "Come on missy, try and pull that move on me," he taunted.

"This isn't good…" Kyla whimpered.

Just as the man was about to make a move on the white pearl Princess, his face contorted in agony. A momentary look of surprise filled all three girls' faces. That was, until he collapsed forward and they saw a grinning Rina standing, her foot still in the air from where she had clocked him in the back!

"Whew, that was perfect timing Rina-chan!" Lucia chirped. "I thought we were goners!"

"You guys go on; I'll try and distract them," Johnny said, pointing towards the darkened pier.

"Wait…"

"What is it Kyla?" Katiya asked curiously.

The younger Bering Sea mermaid looked over at Johnny. "I… I want to thank you for all you've done for me. If it wasn't for you… I would still be back in that aquarium."

"To be honest Kyla, I felt badly that I couldn't release you when we were on the boat. I saw the sadness in your eyes and knew that I had to do something to make up for that."

"I hate to cut this short, but we really need to go!" Hanon urged.

"I agree… we really need to get out of here!" Rina added.

"Good bye Johnny, perhaps we will be able to see each other again some time," Kyla spoke sadly.

"Maybe… we'll just have to see. Good bye Kyla…"

The five girls watched as the young fisherman ran back towards the other end of the docks. "It's now or never…" Katiya spoke as she removed her heavy winter clothes and prepared to dive into the churning water of her home.

The other four nodded and followed suite, shedding their heavy clothes and leaping into the frigid water.

"Whew, that's a relief…" Katiya sighed as she reverted back to her mermaid form.

Kyla swam over and hugged her sister. "Thank you for coming for me Kat! I knew I could depend on you."

"It was my fault that you got tangled in that net in the first place," Katiya spoke softly. "But now you are back where you belong."

Kyla broke the hug and turned to where Rina, Hanon and Lucia were. "Thank you Princesses, if it wasn't for you, my sister would never have been able to rescue me!"

"And I happen to know that a certain Queen is waiting for her two daughters to return," Hanon chirped happily. "So what do you say we all head back to the castle?"

Both Bering Sea mermaids nodded and hand in hand they turned and headed towards the darkened depths of their home.

**XXX**

It took several hours for the mermaids to finally make it back to the undersea palace. On the way, Lucia had taken the opportunity to finally do some sightseeing. As they entered the castle, Katiya and Kyla smiled as they prepared to go to see their mother.


	8. Back Home in the Bering Sea

_Thank you to everyone who read and to __**MeowMoon**__ and __**Haruka Hoshine**__ for their reviews of the previous chapter. _

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, it's still not mine. If it were, the anime would be in English! _

_**Chapter 8: Back Home in the Bering Sea**_

Kyla followed her sister as she slowly entered the main entrance of the castle. She was flanked by Hanon to her right and Lucia to her left. Rina was the last to enter.

Natasha smiled and bowed deeply. "Welcome home Princess Kyla, I'm so happy that you are able to return to us safely." She then turned her attention to Katiya and the three other mermaids next to her. "Thank you for returning her to us."

Hanon returned the bow along with Rina and Lucia. "It was our pleasure Lady Natasha."

"Indeed it was. I'm just glad it was a happy ending," Lucia chimed happily.

Natasha looked over at the older Bering Sea princess. "I imagine you would like to see your mother now?"

Katiya smiled. "Yes, I'm certain she's anxious to see us." She then turned to Rina, Hanon and Lucia. "If you don't mind, I would like this reunion to be just between myself, my sister and my mother. Later, I'm certain that my mother will want to thank you personally."

Rina gave the white pearl Princess a smile. "Of course Katiya-chan, we understand." She then turned her attention to Katiya's caretaker. "Lady Natasha, would you be as kind as to show us to our room so that we can rest?"

The elder white mermaid bowed. "It would be my pleasure your Highness. Please follow me."

"I'll come and get you when my mother is ready," Katiya spoke as they swam past her.

Once they had departed Katiya took hold of her sibling's hand. "Shall we sis?"

**XXX**

Queen Sasha was sitting on her throne when a mermaid clad in highly polished silver armor swam before her. She bowed deeply before speaking. "Your Majesty, Princess Katiya has returned and wishes to see you."

Sasha rose and nodded to the sentry. "Thank you, I will see her now."

The mermaid bowed once again and quickly swam across the vast throne room to a set of highly decorated doors. She reached out and with a brisk pull, opened them. She bowed deeply as both Katiya and Kyla entered the room.

A smile filled the face of the Bering Sea's ruler as her daughters swam in front of her. Katiya bowed before speaking. "Just as I told you before I left Mother, the next time you see me Kyla would be at my side."

Sasha smiled and swam down and embraced her elder child. "Thank you for keeping your word Katiya. I knew you would be successful." She then turned her attention to her younger daughter. "I'm so very relieved to see you back home, safe and sound. When I heard that you had been taken captive in the human world, I feared the worst."

Kyla smiled. "It may have gone much worse, but I had help."

Sasha gave her daughter a curious look. "You had help? Do you mean from your sister and the three mermaid princesses that aided her?"

Kyla shook her head. "No from a human boy named Johnny. He brought me fish and helped Kat and Rina to get me out of the aquarium."

Katiya rolled her crimson eyes at the mention of the brown haired fisherman. "Um Kyla, need I remind you he was also on the boat that captured you? And the he refused to let you go then?"

The younger white mermaid scowled back at her sister. She was about to retort when her mother spoke. "You say this human aided you while you were in captivity?"

Kyla nodded. "He did. He even risked his life to help us to escape."

Sasha looked over to Katiya. "Is this true Katiya? Did this human aid you in your escape?"

Katiya nodded slowly. "He did act as a distraction when we were cornered, but I doubt if his life was at risk."

Sasha smiled. "It does not matter now. What does matter is that you are both home."

**XXX**

Lucia swam over and promptly plopped herself down on the soft green kelp blanket that covered the bed. "Ah, this is so comfortable… I could sleep here all day."

The pink pearl Princess' comment caused Hanon to momentarily choke on her drink. "Is that all it takes Lucia-chan? How is it then that you sleep all day back home? We don't have kelp blankets like this at the Pearl Piari."

"I was just saying that this bed is comfortable," Lucia huffed back.

Rina rolled her emerald eyes and tried to tune out the argument that was sure to follow. She was just about to lay down when the sounds of someone knocking on the door interrupted her thoughts. Pushing herself off the bed she finned over and opened the door. On the other side was a smiling Natasha. Behind her were two younger mermaids. One was holding a large covered tray and the second had several colorful packages held in her arms.

"May I come in your Highness?" Natasha questioned.

Rina nodded and moved to the side, allowing the three white tailed mermaids to enter the room. She looked curiously at the colored packages, wondering what they might contain.

Natasha swam to the center of the room and smiled. "I figured that you could use a rest after all that you have been through, so I took the liberty of having your dinner delivered here." She indicated the mermaid who was holding the gold colored domed tray. "Additionally I have formal gowns for each of you to wear. The Queen has requested that you join her tomorrow for a special luncheon in your honor." She indicated to the second mermaid, who swam over to each princess and handed them a package that matched their pearls color. "I'm certain you will find these dresses to your liking."

Hanon opened the package and to her surprise the dress was a perfect fit. The aquamarine princess looked over at Natasha and gave her a curious look. "Um, Lady Natasha, can I ask you a question?"

Natasha smiled. "Of course your Highness, what would you like to know?"

"How do you manage to find things that match the color of our pearls? First it was the heavy winter clothes when we went to the human world and now these gowns?"

The elder white mermaid simply smiled. "I have my ways."

She then motioned to the two younger mermaids and headed back towards the door. Before leaving she turned and faced back into the room. "I would recommend that you remain here for the evening. However, if you would like to explore the castle, please give me a call and I would be honored to escort you." With that she pulled the door closed.

**XXX**

Rina and Hanon along with Lucia had just finished dressing themselves in the gowns that Natasha had given them the day before. Smiling Lucia finned out to the center of the room and did a quick twirl.

"This dress is so cute!" She giggled happily. "I would really like to know where Natasha-sama got them."

Hanon nodded and smiled back at the pink princess. "They do look nice. I wonder what will happen at the luncheon."

"I don't know," Rina chimed in as she straightened the hem on her dress. "I guess we will find out when we go."

A moment later the sound of someone knocking on the door was heard. Hanon pushed herself up from the light green colored bed and with a single kick of her aquamarine tail; she swam across the room and opened the door. Natasha was seen on the other side and she bowed. "I have come to escort you to the luncheon. If you are ready, please follow me."

Silently the three mermaid princesses swam out of the room and followed the white mermaid down a long well lit decorated hallway. They continued on their way until Natasha stopped in front of a pair of tall gold ordained doors. Natasha turned and smiled. "Please wait here until I return for you. Queen Sasha will announce your arrival and at that time I will escort you into the ballroom." All three mermaid princesses shook their heads in understanding.

After Natasha had left, Hanon turned to her friends. "I'm pretty nervous about all of this. I've never had to go through anything like this before."

"What about your coming of age ceremony? Wasn't it something similar to this?" Rina asked flatly.

Hanon's cheeks flushed slightly. "Well, yes it was… but this is something different. I mean, I've never been honored by another kingdom before."

Lucia nodded. "Yeah, this is something new to all of us."

Rina was about to add to that when Natasha opened the door and with a smile she waved the mermaids inside.

As they entered the elegantly decorated ballroom Sasha stood and raised her hands. As she did so, the room fell silent. "Please help me in welcoming me the three mermaids who assisted my daughter in returning Princess Kyla to us. Let us welcome Princess Rina of the Kingdom of the North Atlantic, Princess Hanon of the South Atlantic and last but not least, Princess Lucia of the Kingdom of the North Pacific."

Loud applause filled the grand room as Rina, Lucia and Hanon swam into the room and up to where Sasha was waiting and they bow deeply to the Bering Sea ruler. Sasha smiled. "Please rise." She waited a moment for the mermaids to stand back up before motioning to three younger white tailed mermaids waiting to her left.

Sasha and one of the younger mermaids swam up and stood before Rina. The Queen gave the green pearl Princess a smile before removing a golden colored seashell from a red satin pillow held in the younger mermaid's hands. "We are eternally grateful for all that you did to assist us Princess. In gratitude, I present you with a golden seashell necklace, an honor reserved for the bravest of the Bering Sea Kingdom."

Rina nodded and as Sasha put the necklace on her, she thanked the Bering Sea's ruler.

The same ceremony was repeated with Hanon and Lucia. Once completed Katiya and Kyla joined their mother and all five turned to face the assembled mermaids, who applauded loudly.

**XXX**

After the awards ceremony and the luncheon that followed were finished, Katiya lead the three mermaid princesses back to the castle's main entrance.

"I really want to thank you for all that you did in helping me get my sister back home safely. I doubt that I could have pulled that off alone."

"You're very welcome Katiya-chan, we were happy to help you," Hanon replied with a grin. "If you ever find yourself near Japan, feel free to stop by and see us!"

Lucia nodded in agreement. "You're kingdom is very nice Katiya-chan, I'll have to visit you again. And when I do, we can finally do some real sightseeing!"

Katiya smiled. "I would enjoy that Lucia."

With that, Lucia and Hanon turned and finned their way towards the gate but stopped half way there. "Aren't you going with us Rina-chan?" Lucia asked, looking at the green mermaid who was still standing next to Katiya.

"No I'm not. I found out that Katiya is going to visit the Arctic Kingdom and I figured I would accompany her there. After all, it's been a little while since the last time I saw Noel."

"Ah, that makes sense. Well, we'll see you back at the Pearl Piari," Hanon said as she and the pink pearl princess swam out the castle's entrance.

Once they had departed, Rina turned to the white tailed mermaid next to her. "Shall we go then?"

Katiya smiled. "Of course, we just need to pick up Kyla and we can be on our way."

**XXX**

It's been little more than two weeks since Kyla's return to her home. Yet, it was evident to everyone that something was bothering the younger mermaid Princess. The normally cheery girl pretty much moped in her room. She seemed to be preoccupied by something as well. Katiya, worried about her little sister confronted her, intent on finding out what was troubling her.

Katiya swam down to her sister's room and knocked on the door, before pushing it open and swimming insider. Kyla was on her bed and didn't even look up as her sister finned over and sat down next to her.

"Hey sis, what's bothering you?"

Kyla looked up at her sister. "Do you really want to know?"

Katiya rolled her crimson eyes. "I wouldn't be here asking you if I really didn't want to know."

"But I don't think you will like what I have to say," the younger mermaid sighed.

With that Katiya's smile faded a little. "Does it have to do with that human you met?"

Kyla moved her head, confirming the answer to her sister's question. "That's why I didn't want to say anything about it. I knew you wouldn't like that."

Katiya thought about what her sister had just confessed. "This human, Johnny was his name right?"

"Yes, that's right. See, I wonder what happened to him after we left? I'm worried that they might take the fact that I escaped out on him."

"Hm, in a way I can understand you concern. He did stick his neck out to help us get you out of that aquarium." Katiya sighed, then looked down at her sister. "Would you like to see him again?"

Kyla's head turned to look at her sister, a confused look plastered across her face. "What are you saying Kat?"

"I'm asking you if you would like to see him again. Are you hard of hearing or something?"

The younger mermaid shook her head. "No, I heard what you said. I just can't believe you actually said it is all."

"I'm still very much against any human contact, but at the same time I'm getting tired of seeing you moping around. So I figure that if I can help you to find out if this human is alright, you will finally get back to normal."

Kyla beamed. "Y... you would do that for me Kat?"

The older white mermaid smiled back at her younger sibling. "I would. But you can't tell anyone about this! Not even Natasha can find out."

"Sure, I can understand that. Can we go tomorrow?"

Katiya shrugged her slender shoulders. "Well, before we do anything, we need to find out if he's even there or not. After all, he may be out at sea. You did say he was a fisherman, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. But I have it on good information that he is on land. In fact he can usually be found on the docks."

Katiya narrowed her eyes. "Oh and just how do you know this?"

"I have my ways sis. You're not the only one who has friends you know!" Kyla retorted smartly.

Katiya sighed. "Whatever sis… In any case, since you know that he's still on land and that he's been seen on the docks. Doesn't that help to ease your mind that he's alright?"

Kyla's look saddened. "That does help Kat, but… I still would like to see him again."

"Don't worry, we will still go. Geez, I can't stand to see you like this anymore." With that the elder mermaid pushed herself up and with a single kick of her porcelain white tail; she swam over to the doorway. "We'll go after breakfast. Remember, keep quiet about this!"

As Katiya swam out of her sister's room, she shook her head. Had she just agreed to help her sister go back to the very place they had recently escaped from? _"Geez, I'm really getting soft…"_ she mused to herself as she finned her way back to her own room.

**XXX**

Kyla finished her breakfast and eagerly headed back through the castle to her room. She just hoped that she had been able to contain herself enough not to tip anyone off. As she opened the door and entered her room she noticed a package waiting for her on the center of her bed. Curious the white tailed mermaid swam over and looked at the small bundle. Picking up the package, she realized that it contained winter clothing. _"How did this get here?"_ She wondered to herself. _"Maybe Kat left this for me?" _

Katiya had found the same thing upon entering her own room. But the answer to her question about how it got there was quickly answered when Natasha entered her room.

"I took the liberty of preparing appropriate clothing for both you and Princess Kyla. I wish you would reconsider this; however I understand why it must be done."

Katiya looked at her caregiver curiously. "But... how? How did you know about this? Kyla and I only talked about this last night."

Natasha smiled at her ward. "I could tell by Princess Kyla's mood that something was up. It only took me a short time to figure out what you two were up to." She then gave Katiya a wink. "And don't worry Princess; your secret is safe with me. But please be careful. Neither you or Princess Kyla have much experience in the human world."

"I will. In fact I intend to keep our time on land to a minimum. Just long enough for Kyla to see that human that helped her."

**XXX**

It took the two white mermaids several hours to make the swim between the castle and the shore. As they entered the shallow waters that surrounded the docks Katiya took hold of her sister's hand. "Stay right next to me Kyla. I don't what to see you in another net."

"I'm right next to you Kat. And believe you me; I don't want to go through anything like that again!"

"So, where can we find this human?" Katiya asked. "I don't want to spend a lot of time here searching for him."

"From what I'm told, we should be able to find him around the docks where the fishing boats are. We need not worry about the boats though since they are all out to sea."

Katiya nodded and together with her younger sister they made their way through the chilly and murky water towards the outcropping of docks that housed the fishing boat fleet.

"There Kat… over there on the end of that dock, that's him!" Kyla shouted, pointing towards a lone human standing on the end of a long wooden pier.

"Are you sure? I mean I don't want to approach the wrong person."

"Oh, I'm quite sure Kat; trust me on this, that is really him, I'm sure of it," Kyla said as she giggled.

"Alright, alright, I believe you," the elder mermaid groaned. "It looks like he's alone so let's make this quick."

Kyla nodded silently and followed her sister towards the shore next to the pier.

**XXX**

It had been tough, but Johnny had been able to defend himself against the onslaught of accusations that he had released the mermaid from the aquarium. He had told anyone who questioned him that it was two girls that had gotten her out, and that he had nothing to do with it.

Yet in spite of that he'd been fired from his job on the fishing boat and no other captains seemed interested in giving him a job. For the time being he was working at the aquarium.

Johnny stood on the end of the damp wooden pier and gazed out at the open water of the Bering Sea. He wondered if Kyla had made it safely back to her underwater home. The stiff sea breeze blew through his brown hair and he shivered slightly. He was about to head back to the aquarium when a voice from behind him stopped him in his tracks.

"Are you looking for someone?"

Johnny spun around and gasped! There just a few feet away from him stood two girls, one taller with chocolate brown eyes and the other with soft ocean blue eyes. Both had light brown hair and matching white colored heavy winter jackets. Brown colored knee high boots finished their ensemble.

"K… Kyla, is that really you?"


	9. Joyful Reunion

_Thank you to everyone who read the previous chapter. _

_**Disclaimer:**__ Nope, it's still not mine. If it were, the anime would be in English! _

_**Chapter 9: Joyful Reunion**_

_Johnny spun around and gasped! There just a few feet away from him stood two girls, one taller with chocolate brown eyes and the other with soft ocean blue eyes. Both had light brown hair and matching white colored heavy winter jackets. Brown colored knee high boots finished their ensemble. _

"_K… Kyla, is that really you?" _

The younger mermaid smiled back at the stunned fisherman. "Yes Johnny, it is."

A broad grin filled the brown haired man's face as he took a few tentative steps towards the two sisters. "B… but how… how and why did you come back here?"

Kyla smiled and closed the distance between herself and the fisherman. "I came back to see you Johnny… I wanted to be sure that you were alright. Kat helped me," she added pointing back to her sister.

"I… I can't believe this…. I thought that after you left that night that I would never be able to see you again!"

"But I'm here now Johnny," Kyla said as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the young man and hugged him. It took a moment for the fisherman's brain to register what was happening, but once it did he placed his arms around the mermaid girl and returned her hug.

Kyla broke the embrace and looked Johnny. "I was so worried that something terrible had happened to you. Or that you had been blamed for my escape and were punished."

Johnny sighed when he heard what the mermaid said. "Well, at first there were those who tried to blame me for your escape, saying that I somehow helped Katiya and Rina to free you. But Sal, one of the security guards that were on duty that night at the aquarium spoke up for me. He told the cops that I was with him the whole time."

A sigh of relief escaped Kyla's lips. "That's good to hear. I'm glad you weren't punished or anything like that."

Johnny's smile faded slightly. "It didn't end all good, however. After that I lost my job on the fishing boat. The captain said that he knew that somehow I was involved with your escape. He said that even though I'd somehow managed to fool the police, that I couldn't fool him. He told the other captains that I was not trustworthy and since then, no one would hire me for their crew."

"That's terrible!" Kyla gasped, a look of sadness filled her face. "You lost your job because you helped me," she stammered.

Johnny shook his head and put the smile back on his face. "Don't worry about it Kyla. I don't think I was destined to be a fisherman anyway. That and in my mind it was totally worth it to see you returned to your rightful home. So never blame yourself for what happened Kyla, I would do it all over again if I had to and never even give it a second thought."

"Kyla's sadness seemed to ease at the boy's comforting words. "Still, what will you do now that you can't work on a fishing boat?"

Johnny grinned. "It's a funny thing that you should ask about that." He reached up and pulled the zipper of his heavy coat down and pulled it to the side, revealing an aquamarine colored shirt.

Kyla's eyes widened as she quickly recognized the emblem on the upper right side of the shirt. She would know since she had seen it quite a bit while she had been on land. "You work at the aquarium now?"

The young man shook his head. "That's right. When I told Sal that I'd lost my job on the boat and that no one on the docks would hire me, he went and spoke to the aquarium's manager. With his recommendation I was hired to help tend to the animals and fish that are kept there."

Kyla smiled. "That's good. And if you see another mermaid brought there…"

"I'll know just who to call to help get her back home."

Kyla was about to reply when Katiya stepped over to them. "I hate to break up this happy reunion, but every minute we are here on land we are in danger. I'm sorry Kyla, but it's time for us to return to the sea."

"Kat's right, we really do need to return home. But before I go, I want you to have this." With that she reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a porcelain white colored seashell. A deep crimson blush filled the girl's cheeks as she handed the shell to her male friend. "Johnny… I want you to have this seashell. With it you can remember me forever."

Johnny could feel tears welling in his eyes as he accepted the beautiful shell. "Thank you Kyla…I will treasure this gift and you will always be in my thoughts."

The sounds of approaching boats prompted Katiya to intervene once again. "We really need to go Kyla!"

With hot tears spilling down her cheeks Kyla once again wrapped her arms around the former fisherman and hugged him tightly. Johnny returned the hug and as they separated Kyla leaned forward and kissed the young man's cheek. "Good bye Johnny, perhaps sometime once all the turmoil of this has passed, we can see each other again."

"I would really like that Kyla. But for now you should hurry and get back to the safety of the sea before anything else happens."

I agree with him Kyla, we need to go now!" Katiya spoke in an urgent tone. "Those boats are getting much to close for comfort."

With a final wave good bye, Kyla turned and dove into the churning waters of the Bering Sea.

Once her sister was out of sight, Katiya stepped over to Johnny and gave him a stern look. "What my sister sees in a human is way beyond me. But know this; she does see something special in you." She neared the former fisherman "Understand this human, if you ever harm her or do anything to put her in danger I will personally hunt you down, gut you, and feed your worthless corpse to the sharks! Got that?"

Johnny gulped loudly. "There is no need to worry; I won't do anything like that to her… ever! You have my word on that."

Katiya gave the man a smile. "As long as that's clear… I will allow you will see my sister again. Just remember what I said."

"I won't forget. And Katiya… thank you!"

The elder mermaid nodded and with a leap, joined her sister in the safety of their watery home.

Johnny waited for a few minutes before turning and heading back towards the aquarium. He thought about all that had happened. First, Kyla was caught in the fishing net, and then she had been taken to the aquarium.

He always visited her and gave her fish and things to eat. Then when the time he was right, he helped her escape. And he wouldn't have it any other way!

As he walked he opened his hand and looked down at the gleaming white seashell that Kyla had given him. A smile filled the young man's face knowing that he would see his mermaid friend again! After all, he was sure that this meeting would not be the last. He could feel it in his heart!

**XXX**

Kyla swam over to her sister and together the two began the journey back to their distant castle. As they descended deeper into the murky depths Kyla gave her sister a curious look. "What did you say to Johnny? I saw you talking to him right before you dove in."

Katiya smiled back at her younger sibling. "Oh I just told him just this or that; it's nothing for you to trouble yourself about sis."

"Is that really all you said to him?" her younger sister questioned, looking unsure. "You didn't threaten him did you?"

The elder mermaid gave her sister an innocent look. "Who me… threaten him? Now Kyla, why would I go and do something awful like that?"

"Well, first off you hate humans… next is you blame him for my getting captured," Kyla retorted.

Katiya sighed. "Well I do detest humans that much is true. However this human seemed different. After all, he did risk his own well being to help you escape. So perhaps there may be a possibility that not all humans are what I originally thought."

"Kat, I'm shocked! I didn't think I would ever hear words like that coming from you!"

"Yeah whatever…"

'So what you are saying is that I can see Johnny again?"

The elder mermaid nodded. "Yes, just as long as he keeps in mind what I told him, then things will be just fine."

Kyla scowled at her sister. "So you did threaten him!"

"No, I didn't threaten him. I just gave him some friendly advice, that's all."

"Oh and just how friendly may I ask?"

Katiya smiled at her sister. "You may not ask. It's not important anyway."

Knowing that her sister would never tell her what she'd said to her human friend, the young mermaid turned and smiled. "Come on Kat, you can't catch me!" With that Kyla gave several powerful kicks of her porcelain white tail and disappeared into the depths.

"Oh you are so on little sister!" Katiya shouted as she too gave her tail a powerful kick.

This may have been how the problems all began. But this time, the outcome would be different. There wouldn't be a net that would catch an unsuspecting mermaid. That and Kyla promised herself she would be more careful. Besides, after being cooped up in an aquarium for so long, she wanted to have a little fun!

One thing could be said for sure. A bond had been formed between a human and a mermaid.


End file.
